Big Winter Raffle 2017

Each year during Februaryfest we pledge to raise as much cash as we can for worthwhile local causes. This year we’re concentrating our efforts on the provision of defibrillators for the local communities of Glencoe, Ballachulish & Onich. 

Throughout the month our staff have been busy selling tickets for our Big Winter Raffle. Not many folk escaped Katie & Ann Marie who were present during all four lectures, the gin & whisky tastings and on busy Saturday nights. Our frontline team were also on hand to twist a few arms. The swag room this year was bursting at the seams with a cart load of beer, cider, whisky, accommodation, gear, food and activity vouchers along with t-shirts, umbrellas and golf balls galore all up for grabs. 

To give an extra boost to our fundraising we cleared out the attic and held a Yard Sale providing a great opportunity to bag some Clachaig (& Grog) memorabilia

We are very grateful to our sponsor Mammut who pay for the Winter Mountain Safety Lecture Series and also a big shout to our suppliers and local businesses who get right behind our fundraising efforts with incredibly generous products & activities. But the real heroes are our customers & guests who donated generously once again and dug deep for their hard earned cash.

So a big 'Thank You' in no particular order to: 

Mammut UK

Nevisport

Letterfinlay Specialist Foods

Ice Factor

Holroyd Gallery

Dragons Tooth Golf Club

Cairngorm Brewery

Loch Lomond Brewery

Thistly Cross Cider

West Brewery

Strathavon Brewery

Orkney Brewery

Glencoe Mountain Resort

Benromach

Gordon &Macphail

J M Breckenridge 

Not forgetting Karl from Glencoe Photography for taking the snaps
Ann Marie and Will for assisting with the draw

Special thanks to the lecturers:

Andy Spink

Dave Anderson

Rich Parker

Mike Pescod

 We are still counting the pennies but we have raised over £1700 so far.

.....and the winners are!

Top prize - Rab sleeping bag. cosy cosy!

Careful what you wish for Jess

Will is always good to his mum!

Its all downhill (skiing) from here!

Beer in a bag

My neighbours look chuffed with their haul....must call round

Merlin casts a winning spell

Brolly, whisky & golf balls....new sport?

Art attack

Wow!.....suddenly this lucky lady had lots of new friends

Nice!...that will help with the bar tab

You can get a lot of smoked salmon for £50

£50 to spend at Nevisport....and there's a sale on!

 18 holes of golf - he's never been so happy

Well done Ann Marie & Will

And the band played on. Great tunes from HoRo

See you all next year

Glencoe Community Defibrillator

During Octoberfest and Febfest we usually try and raise some money for the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team. However this October we decided to raise money for another local and worth while clause. The Glencoe Community Defibrillator. There will actually be two defibrillators installed. One outside the Glencoe Ambulance Station and the other outside the Ballachulish Medical Centre.

We managed to raise £200 over Octoberfest by donating all money raised from our Pool Competitions and Pub Quizes. There was also money raised by our customers who kindly put a donation in the collection box on the bar which the ladies picked up today. They tell me they have so far raised £3000 of the £4000 needed.

Head over to our website to see what else we do for our local community.

Putting the fun into fundraising

Plenty of fun was had during our busy autumn festival ‘Octoberfest’ and the full programme of live music, gin & whisky tastings, pumpkin carving, quizzes & pool competitions kept us all busy.

Halloween Staff fancy dress

 

Serious pool sharks

Tabitha and her amazing pumpkin

Our rolling fundraising commitment to actively raise funds for a variety of locally based charity/projects raised £200.00 for the Glencoe Community Defibrillator Fund.

Pool Winner

Staff Pool Champ

Many thanks to all who participated in these fun events and to our suppliers who donated generous prizes for the winners. See you again next year.

Snow, Sunshine & Giant Wooly Mammoths - The story of Febfest 2016

There's something just a bit special about winter in Glencoe although we did have to survive storms Henry, Imogen & Jake before the weather finally settled down.

Storms, what storms?

We managed to un-batten the hatches just in time for our winter festival Febfest and whilst we were busy stocking up the whisky shelves some folk were out on the slopes or riding their bikes, lucky devils.

Cracking view

Ice, Ice baby!

With all this snow around it was no surprise that our Winter Safety Lecture series that ran throughout the month was well supported. Over the four weeks we welcomed over 300 folk to the lectures.

 

Opening night

These four evenings, delivered by qualified mountain guides, are a chance to refresh and learn about the skills and planning required before heading out into the mountains.

Top tips from the best

Having done this for some 31 years we felt it was time for a change of venue and with plenty room to spread out and roaring fires to add atmosphere the Boots bar was the obvious choice.

Room with a view

We never tire of looking for new cask and craft ales and this year we added 4 cask ciders and over 30 Scottish gins to our range.

is it your round?

We are extremely proud of our food and top marks to the kitchen brigade for producing an interesting and varied selection for the specials board as well as our revamped menu. Well done lads

local produce.......from New York?

Throughout the month our staff were busy selling tickets to anything that moved for our Big Winter Raffle. We had a shed load of prizes including 100 baby mammoths accompanied by their dad.

What do you mean 'it's too warm'

Stacks of beer, cider, whisky, Mammut holdalls, accommodation, gear, food and activity vouchers along with t-shirts galore were all up for grabs.

Sorry, Pool table out of action for a bit

So where did you get all the prizes?, who won what?, how much did you raise? Good questions.

Many thanks to our sponsor Mammut who, as well as throwing lots of goodies at us, also dig deep into their pockets to pay for the lecture series. But we couldn't do it without the support of our suppliers and local businesses who get right behind our fundraising efforts.

So a big 'Thank You' in no particular order to:

Mammut UK

Rich Pyne

Glencoe Independent Hostel

Nevisport

Letterfinlay Specialist Foods

Ice Factor

SeaXplorer

Cairngorm Brewery

Isle Of Skye Brewery

Thistly Cross Cider

Anteallach Brewery

Orkney Brewery

Benromach

Gordon & Macphail

Alex Roddie - Epic author
Karl from Glencoe Photographic for taking the snaps
Kristin, Will & Liam for assisting with the draw

Special thanks to the lecturers:
Andy Nelson
Davy Gunn
Andy Spink
Rich Pyne

We are still counting the pennies but we have raised over £1000 so far.

And now for the Winners!

Mammut Goodie bag

Well done Ryan



'I'm gonna look cool in this hoodie'

Just what Sergio needed 'another t-shirt'

'I can't believe my luck' says J



Rich Pyne with his latest victim, eh!,client Jim

No favouritism here then Will, party at yours?

Jeff now has a better shirt for under his fleece

Looks like Stuart will be staying local next time

All proceeds from our fundraising efforts throughout February will go to Mountain Safety Initiatives

Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team in action

Thanks to all our customers and guests for parting with their hard earned cash and we look forward to doing it all again next year. 

Fundraising efforts begin at home!

Our next fund-raising mission here at Clachaig is to raise a minimum of £1000 towards the cost of a new people carrier for the Abbeyfield Care Home in Ballachulish. This new vehicle is vital for the home to continue to provide services for the older people in Ballachulish & the surrounding communities. Services provided include residential care, nursing care, intermediate care, sheltered housing with housing support, care at home, day care & a community lunch club.

Demand for these services is such that the existing mini-bus has driven 30,000 within the local communities over the past 2 years and with request & referrals growing a new vehicle is required to assist the older members of the dispersed communities of South Lochaber.

The first cheque for £152 on it's way to the Abbeyfield Care Home in Ballachulish - Thanks for those who took part in the pub quiz and the raffle. 

We are hoping to hit the target by the end of the year so when our staff pester you to part with your hard earned cash please buy a raffle ticket & help support this worthwhile cause.

Clachaig Customers Donate £517

Got any small change, mister? So the saying goes as we ask you to donate your change at the bar once you've bought a round. And let's face it, we don't give you a lot of it.

Rescue Team members out training in some wild conditions

So, all the more pleasing to know that we've just handed over £517 to Glencoe Mountain Rescue, raised through the collection boxes at Clachaig Inn. Thank you from us, and thank you from them.

Handing over your small change is one way of donating to the voluntary team. Signing up with EasyFundRaising and donating while you shop online is another and it won't cost you a penny. More details on our web site.

Glencoe Primary School Balance Trail

What happens to the money we raise through the touting of raffle tickets on a Saturday night?


Last year, Clachaig customers raised £1152 to help Glencoe Primary School install a balance trail. We were very pleased to be invited to the grand opening at the school last Friday.

Mr Robert Flemming, who also contributed generously (think Glen Etive estate and merchant banks), cut the ribbon in front of some excited kids and a photographer from The Oban Times.


After the trail was officially opened the children wasted no time and were to hanging, jumping and swinging from the various objects. It turned out that they sneaked in some practice as the trail had been (unofficially) in use for a little over a week.

It was good to see the Balance Trail finally erected and so popular with the youngsters. The Clachaig was presented with a ‘Thank you’ plate made by Jade Lear, one of the obviously very artistic pupils there, and this will find a good place on the wall at Reception.

£200 for Mountain Safety Initiatives

Ok, so the clocks may be about to go forward and the daffodils might be in full bloom, but its certainly looking very wintry on the mountains today. Some winter - with snow falling in October and still coming now that its nearly April.

So caution if you're heading out into the hills. Know the skills you need, be properly equipped and all that. But not an issue if you attended one of the Winter Experience Lectures at Clachaig during February and March.

The series is organised by the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and are provided free of charge. We've hosted the series every winter for time eternal - originally set up in the late 1980's by Peter Daynes and Andy Fanshawe who was the National Officer of the BMC at the time. We've always maintained that they should be free, if they are to connect with the folk who might most need to be aware of their content.

However, there is a cost associated with presenting the lectures, so we do tout for donations. The collections this year raised £200, which will go back to the MCofS, and used to help fund further mountain safety initiatives.

Roger Wild has recently stepped down from his post as Mountain Safety Officer, so contact the MCofS directly if you fancy a job in the mountains and helping to organise the Winter Experience Lectures in 2010!

£223 for Ballachulish kids play

Having adopted our new local 'good cause', we've just paid over a cheque for £223 from our FebruaryFest fund-raising activities to date. The Parent Forum Fund Raising Group at Ballachulish Primary School are aiming to raise funds for enhanced childrens' play facilities at the school, as well as aiming for Eco School Status.

The first bits of equipment the school would like to acquire is a train (of the variety pictured above, courtesy of Timberline), though they also have their sights set on a boat a few other interactive pieces if funds permit.

We hope that the contribution you've generously helped us to raise so far helps them on their way.