In 2019 Scotland lost its  top chef, and I lost my big brother Andy.. In his final days Andy was cared for by the most amazing team at the Cornhill Hospice in Perth who treated him with dignity and respect, and cared for all of us who were with him at that time. Their care and compassion made the most difficult of times, as bearable as they could be, and for that I can never thank them enough. On the day Andy died, I decided it was time for me to do the climb , but it had to be done with a real purpose. For me that purpose was to raise funds for the staff and patients of Cornhill hospice, but the first call I made was to David Cochrane of HIT Scotland, a very good friend of Andy’s and a charity very close to his heart. David  had organised Andy’s Kilimanjaro climb in 2011 so I figured he was the best person to help me pull mine together. David went one step further, and asked if I would do a joint venture with him and HIT Scotland raising funds for both Cornhill, and the Andrew Fairlie Scholarship established in 2019,  with HIT being the custodians of the scholarship. David  has become a friend and ultimately  the organiser of the trip, doing  a fabulous job of keeping it all together during COVID. This is our third attempt to get the climb done, so we are absolutely determined that this year it’s going to happen, so on 7th October, a team of us are traveling to Tanzania, and climbing Kilimanjaro. 

. In 2011 two-star Michelin Chef Andrew Fairlie prepared the worlds highest Burns Supper at the top of Kilimanjaro to raise funds for HIT Scotland. In his final months he continued to work closely with the charity to establish the Andrew Fairlie Scholarship which is awarded annually to provide a career changing opportunity to both a male and female chef. Andrews inspirational legacy will continue to live on but not just in the hospitality industry. Andrew spent his last weeks at Cornhill Hospice, and he wanted to raise funds to provide tangible benefits to the nursing staff who give so much to the patients and their families. To this end, an intrepid band of explorers, led by Andrew's brother Jim, are going to follow in his footsteps and climb Kilimanjaro in October to raise funds for both charities.