"You've a fine leg for a KiltWalk Sir"

I'm off to Tenerife on Friday for a week in the sun, but don't worry, I will be taking my iphone with me, so my 'blipping' will continue. However be warned as I can just hear the grief I'm going to get every day as my wife and friends say "oh he's KiltWalking again!!".

I'm off to Tenerife with six close friends who I've know for 33 years. Amongst us are two couples, of which I'm one, who are making the trip to celebrate 25 years of marriage and I do have to confess that my wife, Jan, has had the rough end of the 25 years. As I've swanned around the country working, Jan has been at home bringing up three children now aged 22, 17 and 15 and has also juggled a part-time job for the last eleven years, so I think she deserves a week's break in the sun.

All of this got me thinking about our partner charities because 22 of the last 25 years have involved loving our children, caring for them and providing the best possible environment for them to develop into the young adults they are in Zoey and Holly's case, or are becoming in Scott's case.

So if I have been doing this for that long, how long have CHAS, CLIC Sargent, TACC and Aberlour being doing what they do, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, year after year?

How many children have received the loving care from the wonderful people who work for these charities, sometimes to support a family unit in their time of need and often play the role of the family unit as the family hasn't been there for the child.

So I decided to do a bit of research to see if I knew our Partner charities as well as I thought I knew them and this is what I found out.

CHAS

So let's start with CHAS because everyone loves CHAS, everyone has heard of CHAS. CHAS was formed in 1992 and I'm sure you, like me, can remember the terrific campaign a Scottish National newspaper ran to raise the necessary funds to build Rachel House.

CHAS is the only charity in Scotland that provides vital hospice services for children and young people with life-shortening conditions. They offer care for the whole family in their two children's hospices, Rachel House in Kinross and Robin House in Balloch. They also run a homecare service called CHAS at Home helping families in their own homes across Scotland when they need it most.
Currently, CHAS support over 250 families, as well as a significant number of families who receive bereavement support.

It costs £7m per year to provide the hospice services CHAS run and their funding comes, in the main, from the generosity of their many supporters.

CLIC Sargent

CLIC Sargent are another charity I was aware of, mainly due to the various 10K Charity runs I've made over the years, where CLIC are always well represented.

CLIC Sargent (founded in 2005) are the only UK wide charity The KiltWalk supports and we're proud to do so. They were formed by the merger of Sargent Cancer Care for Children (founded in 1968) and Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood.

CLIC Sargent is the UK's leading cancer charity for children and young people, and their families. They provide clinical, practical, financial and emotional support to help them cope with cancer and get the most out of life. CLIC are there from diagnosis onwards and aim to help the whole family deal with the impact of cancer and its treatment, life after treatment and, in some cases, bereavement.

Tartan Army Children's Charity (TACC)

This was an easy one for me as I've supported TACC from their very first t-shirt, and I have to say I didn't even realise I was supporting TACC at the point I bought my TartanKiev t-shirt, which is still my favourite by the way, way back in 2006. In 2007 a trip to Skopje meant TartanSkopje was the natural follow on from Kiev, however at this point the guys realised it would be easier and less confusing, to have a consistent name, so TACC was chosen and officially launched in 2008.

What the Tartan Army Children's Charity does is pretty simple.

TACC spend all year raising as much money as possible to support disadvantaged children in Scotland and in the countries visited by Scotland fans to watch the Scotland National Team play football.

Funds are raised by selling t-shirts, kilts and badges, organising events, raffles and auctions and the TACC Lottery, and encouraging and helping fans to organise their own club events on behalf of TACC.

On behalf of Scotland's football supporters TACC then make grants to desperate children's homes and projects, take children to their first Scotland matches, and generally try to brighten up the lives of children who need it the most.

Their ability to generate incredible sums of money for children's charity is testament to the people who run it in the first instance, and secondly the Scotland fans who support TACC whole heartedly.

Aberlour Children's Care Trust

And finally let me tell you about Aberlour, whose CEO, Ken Dunbar is proudly sporting his Kilt in today's picture.

I have to confess that before I became involved with TACC and heard about their "My First Football Match" program, which took some Aberlour Children to Hampden Park for their first Scotland game, I hadn't heard much about Aberlour.

It wasn't until I became involved with The KiltWalk that I realised what a
significant charity Aberlour are and the varied role they play.

Aberlour are a wonderful charity, who since 1875, have made it their goal to help those children most in need. They successfully work with as many children and families as resources allow in the areas of:

- Children and families affected by disability
- Children and families affected by drugs and alcohol
- Young People at Risk
- Parent and Child Development

Aberlour Child Care Trust is the largest, solely Scottish children's charity, working to improve the lives of children and young people all over the country. Every year they reach many children, young people and their families and help them to overcome obstacles including disability, family breakdown and parental drug and alcohol misuse. Some of their services include provision of respite care for children with disabilities, Scotland's only refuge for runaways, and full-time residential care for children who have experienced severe trauma and loss in their young lives.

To me, and it was probably only me, they were Scotland's best kept secret and I feel immensely proud that The KiltWalk supports the Partner Charities we do, however when I think of the inspiration, or theme of today's Blip, then where as I have been loving my three children, unconditionally, for as many years as I have, Aberlour have been there for Scotland's needy children and loving them for a whole lot longer.

The money donated from this year's Kiltwalk will be used to support Aberlour Sycamore Service and we will hear more about that and a young lady by the name of Louise in the next day or so.