ScotRail Alliance zips across the Clyde for MND

A brave team of 22 ScotRail Alliance staff members took part in our Zipslide across the river Clyde, on Saturday (26th August), raising over £4,800 for MND Scotland.

Staff at the ScotRail Alliance chose MND Scotland as their official charity partner until 2020 in an extensive selection process.

Alliance staff have committed themselves to taking on a range of fundraising challenges for MND and the organisation as a whole has set itself the goal of raising more than £150,000, over the three years, to help support people affected by MND in Scotland.

The MND Zipslide was the first major fundraising event of the partnership, which saw ScotRail Alliance employees hoisted over 100ft in a crane above Glasgow’s SEC, before taking the plunge and zipping across the river.

Rob Shorthouse, Client and Communications Director at ScotRail, was one of the team members who took part in the Zipslide.

He said, “MND Scotland is a charity that is really close to my heart, particularly since we lost my friend Gordon Aikman to the illness earlier this year.

“We are very proud at the ScotRail Alliance to have a three-year partnership with MND Scotland, and we’ve made a great start. I can’t pretend that I particularly enjoyed the zip slide across the Clyde, but it was all for a good cause.

“We have managed to raise a lot of money to find a cure for motor neurone disease and to raise awareness of this illness.”

Morag McGown, Corporate Partnerships Manager at MND Scotland, said: “The zip slide was a great day and we were thrilled to see so many ScotRail Alliance staff getting involved.

“This is the first big event of the three-year partnership and we cannot believe the team managed to raise so much. These funds will go towards helping us support people across Scotland who are affected by motor neurone disease and fund more research to find a cure for this devastating illness.

“Next up is our Firewalk on 13th October, at Hampden Park, where more staff will brave the flames and walk across 20 feet of fire burning hot enough to melt aluminium.”

Aside from adrenaline-inducing fundraising events, ScotRail Alliance staff have raised more than £14,500 through fundraisers – including dress down days and staff donations through payroll – and the business has donated almost £19,000 through ‘in kind’ support. ‘In kind’ support includes providing advertising space at train stations free of charge.