Chris Buckland, 66, a former film editor for STV with nearly 50 years’ experience working in television, is supporting Scotland’s Garden Scheme to help raise funds for MND Scotland.

Originally from Ayrshire, Chris’s career began in 1976 as an assistant film editor. Over the years, he worked on various dramas and documentaries, including a BAFTA-winning film on the Lockerbie bombing, ‘After Lockerbie’, and a documentary featuring Stephen Fry about mental health, ‘The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive’.

He worked for STV for many years, serving as an editor on numerous popular TV shows, including ‘Vigil’, ‘Guilt’, and ‘Taggart’. In later years, he contributed to the hit series ‘Outlander’. Chris was diagnosed with motor neuron disease (MND) in 2022 and continued working as a freelance film editor until 2024.

Chris’s latest project is 4 Port Ann. Together with his wife, Anne, the couple have spent 16 years transforming the garden of their holiday home in Lochgilphead, Argyll, into a beautiful open space which they have recently opened to the public as part of Scotland’s Garden Scheme to help raise funds for MND Scotland.

The half-acre tiered garden is situated in the former forestry village of Port Ann, enjoying a sheltered position between Loch Fyne and a pine forest.

The garden has a water feature, a pond teeming with newts and dragonflies, a labyrinth designed by artist Margaret Ker, many nooks and crannies creatively filled with plants and small trees, including rhododendrons, azaleas, hawthorn, fig, maple and acers, and ends in a walk through a wilder area of hazels on the burn side where the ground is smothered in bluebells in May.

Since Chris has become a wheelchair user, part of the top level of the garden has been made accessible with a viewing platform that overlooks the garden and the loch.

Speaking about his MND diagnosis, Chris said: “I was diagnosed in 2022, but I had symptoms as early as 2019. In the garden we’re talking about, I started to have several falls and balance issues. It took a long time to get diagnosed, mainly because of COVID. Of course, everything sort of shut down, so it took almost three years to find out what it was.

“I was misdiagnosed at first. I was told I had MSA (multiple system atrophy), which is even rarer than MND, but they said that was wrong”.

Working in television runs in the family as his wife, Anne, is a former TV producer, and the couple’s son, Mark, is currently based in Barcelona where he works as a film editor.

Chris credits his wife, son, and close circle of friends for their continued support: “When you get diagnosed, it was devastating. My wife gave up work and is my full-time carer. She’s amazing at what she does.

“I used to like cooking, and that is quite hard for me now. We’re both keen gardeners, and there’s things that I can’t do now, so she has picked up the baton for all that. And of course, my son is a great support. He is very good at doing research and finding out what’s happening in terms of MND”.

Motor neuron disease is a rapidly progressing terminal neurological illness, which stops signals from the brain reaching the muscles. This causes muscle weakness and wasting.

MND can rob someone of the ability to walk, talk, swallow, and breathe. The average life expectancy of someone with MND is just 18 months from diagnosis. There is no cure or meaningful treatments.

There are around 480 people in Scotland currently living with MND.

Since his diagnosis, Chris’s mobility has declined, and he now uses a wheelchair. His hand function has worsened, and his voice has deteriorated over the past year. Last year, Chris stopped working as a freelance film editor – something he had done since 1976 – due to the impact it was having on him.

He said: “What I suffer from is grief and anger. Grief about what you’ve lost in your everyday life, and anger at not being able to do the things you used to be able to. But you have to make the most of your life”.

MND Scotland would like to thank Chris for bravely sharing his story. We also thank him and his wife for their support by participating in Scotland’s Garden Scheme, which helps raise vital funds to ensure that no one in Scotland faces the unknown alone.

4 Port Ann will be open to the public between 2-4 August between 2pm – 5pm. Admission is £4.00 (children go free), and 60% of the entry fee goes directly to MND Scotland. For more information, visit: https://scotlandsgardens.org/4-port-ann/

For more information about MND Scotland, how we can support you or your family, please visit: www.mndscotland.org.uk, email: info@mndscotland.org.uk, or call: 0141 332 3903.