An artist has climbed her first Munro as part of her annual quest to raise thousands of pounds for charity.
Hope Blamire is renowned for her bright and beautiful paintings of Scottish islands, with a huge following of fans from around the world enjoying her work.
Every December, Mrs Blamire holds a massive charity raffle with hundreds of prizes up for grabs, including getaways to Egypt and Skye, crafts and treats.
Already she has raised more than £76,000 ahead of Sunday’s live draw, and everything raised will be split between Abernecessities, Eilidh’s Trust, the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team and the My Name’s Doddie Foundation.
‘Bidean was my Everest’
Mrs Blamire, who is originally from Ayrshire but now lives in Bath, chose Glencoe MRT as one of this year’s beneficiaries after her school friend David Low died while climbing Bidean nam Bian in March.
On Sunday, Mrs Blamire conquered Bidean nam Bian – the highest peak in Glencoe – in memory of Mr Low alongside Brian Bathurst, the deputy team leader of the mountain rescue team.
The mother-of-two said it was “pure luck” the weather had been so good for her climb, and although it reached -10C and was icy she enjoyed her challenge.
She said: “I had always since my friend Dave died tragically on the hill in March, I always from very early on thought I will climb that Munro – having not climbed any I thought if I was going to climb one it would be that one.
“It was only a couple of weeks ago when I was thinking about the raffle I thought it would be a good thing to do to raise awareness to climb it as well as doing it for myself and Dave. And it was quite emotional because I felt I was also doing it for his family.
“Bidean was my Everest, and in wintry conditions it really was challenging.”
The hike took around nine hours and gave the artist a chance to learn more about the mountain rescue team and their work helping other climbers in the Glencoe mountains.
“It really heightened my awareness,” she added. “I don’t think I realised, even though my brother is in Braemar Mountain Rescue team, the risks that they take, and all voluntary risks.
“It made me realise it’s such a worthy, worthy charity.”
£80k fundraising target
Mrs Blamire always includes Eilidh’s Trust, set up in memory of 14-year-old Eilidh MacLeod from Barra who was killed in the Manchester arena bombings, in her raffles because of her own work from the west coast and the connection with music.
The artist was keen to include a charity helping children in poverty, especially this year, and Abernecessities “stood out” to her.
Although she hadn’t originally planned on a fourth charity, the My Name’s Doddie Foundation was an “obvious” choice after the recent death of rugby legend Doddie Weir following his battle with motor neurone disease.
She believes because the charities are so varied, there will be at least one that appeals to ticket holders – making it all the more attractive to enter the raffle.
With five days left, the artist is hoping to hit her £80k target – which she has increased as donations continue to flood in – so that each charity will receive £20k.
She said: “I’ve just been amazed by the support, there’s so many people that get behind it, both with tickets and with prizes it’s really heartwarming.
“Most of the prize givers are individuals or small businesses mostly from Highlands and islands in Scotland. It’s not something I dwell on, I just want to raise as much as possible for the charities.
“I couldn’t do it without all the hugely generous prize givers.”
The raffle will be drawn live on her Facebook page on Sunday at 8pm with more than 100 prizes to be given away. Tickets are available here.
