Jamie McClennan

Hi everyone!
I've got a lot in my head to blog about this week so I’ll just plough right ahead.

Emily and I were asked to perform at the Burns Humanitarian Awards in Ayr last Saturday night as some pre-dinner entertainment.  (Black tie event, of course we'd be there!)
Presenting the award was first minister Alex Salmond.  (He came and spoke to us later that evening and I have to say, I like the guy! – yes, partly because he was complimenting Emily on her singing, but thought he gave a great speech that managed to hold my attention throughout, I’m not usually so attentive during speeches!) 

The whole night was fabulously run by Events Scotland and Visit Scotland, (I only mention this because of the number of not so fabulously run events I’ve attended!)

We had been asked to stay and join in the meal and enjoy after function entertainment (Midge Ure) and I'm glad we did!  The table we were sitting at was absolutely brilliant, with us were Jackie Bird (who was presenting), photographer Andy Hall and his wife Sylvia, the fantastic actor John Cairney (hailed as the seminal Robert Burns thanks to his portrayal of the poet in the 1968 Scottish TV production Burns) and his Kiwi wife – actor and writer Alannah O’Sullivan (who was born in the same city as me in NZ) plus opera singer Nicky Spence (who Emily went to school with) and his partner Abigail.
It was an absolute hoot during dinner with the amount of stories bounding round the table. - oh and the food was pretty awesome too!

Now to the award! I’m happy to say it went to someone who lives only a few miles from us, Guy Willoughby, who founded and runs the Halo Trust.  Halo specialises in the removal of the hazardous debris of war and have nearly 8,000 full-time mineclearers in 9 countries.

(on a personal note, the man who made my high D-whistle, Jamie Grieve, currently works for the Halo trust, last I heard he was in Angola disabling land-mines...but that’s really a whole other blog..)

We were really happy to see Guy recognised for all the work he puts in and hope the publicity gained from the award helps raise awareness for what the Halo trust and all the folk who work for them do.

To round off the evening I found myself having a front row seat watching Midge Ure perform some songs with just himself and a guitar.  It was great to hear the song Vienna from only 5 feet away!  .

So all in all a fabulous evening, i'm looking forward to returning to Ayr twice more this week, playing with Starsky on Friday night supporting Hue and Cry, then back again Saturday night with Emily and the full band to play at the Folk Night.

Hopefully catch some of you there,
If not,
Ciao for now!
Jamie