ScotRail’s Kelly won’t let lockdown knock her fundraising off track

A ScotRail worker has said her efforts to raise money for MND Scotland won’t be knocked off track by the Coronavirus lockdown.

Kelly Long (41), from Paisley, works in Customer Support at the ScotRail Alliance – which named MND Scotland as its chosen charity in 2017. Since then, customers and staff at Scotland’s railway have helped raise more than £270,000 to fight back against Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

In September 2019, Kelly helped raise more than £11,000 for the charity by taking on a gruelling six-day trek along the Great Wall of China. Now she has set her sights on the Edinburgh Half Marathon as her next challenge – as soon as the event is rescheduled.

She said: “Just as I caught the fundraising bug, Coronavirus came along and threw a spanner in the works. I have an underlying health condition, so I was told to self-isolate at home for 14 days, and then the whole country was put into lockdown as well.

“Since I can’t go outside, I’ve had to come up with new ways of staying in shape. My husband and I have moved the dining table out and set up or own wee gym with kettle bells, barbells, static bike, and a yoga mat. We’ve set up circuits in the house and we do sprints in the garden – when it’s not raining!”

“I’m pretty determined, so there’s no chance this pandemic is going to stop me from raising as much money as I can for MND Scotland. These are uncertain times for charities, especially with so many events being cancelled or postponed, so I’m even more determined to raise as much as I can to support MND Scotland’s vital work.”

Morag McGown, of MND Scotland’s Fundraising Team, said: “Kelly is an absolute star. These are uncertain times for charities everywhere, and the fact that Kelly is keeping up her fundraising while in lockdown tells us so much about her character.

“It also shows us how close we’ve grown to the wonderful colleagues at the ScotRail Alliance who, over the last three years, have thrown themselves out of planes, run marathons, organised dress-down days, and thrown bake sales – all to raise vitally needed funds to fight back against Motor Neurone Disease.

“We can’t thank Kelly enough for what she’s doing and we look forward to finding new ways to fundraise with our friends at ScotRail, during this Coronavirus crisis.

“Together, we’ll beat MND.”

If you’d like to support her fundraising efforts for MND Scotland please donate via Kelly’s EverydayHero fundraising page.