Wecht is the word as Cabrach Radio stars raise £20k for cancer charity

CLAN staff say thank you to Cabrach Community Radio for its £20,000 donation.

A cancer support charity with a drop-in centre in Moray has received a major financial boost this week thanks to the hilarious exploits of a spoof Doric community radio station.

Cabrach Community Radio gained fame by documenting the adventures of Sandy, Pat, Jimmy and Beldie through a series of videos posted on social media site Facebook.

That led to a spit-off industry of branded T-shirts, hats and mugs through a variety of outlets throughout the north east, featuring two of the spoof station’s most well know Doric sayings – “wecht” and “sing along, back o’ the bus”.

Many of the station’s 40,000 regular online followers flocked to purchase the merchandise with shops selling out within days of stocking up their shelves. The internet hit allowed Cabrach Community Radio to raise £20,000 for CLAN Cancer Support.

Susan Crighton, fundraising manager for the charity, said: “When we heard that the guys from Cabrach were going to be donating some funds from the sale of their merchandise, we were delighted but when we heard the total they had raised, we were completely blown away.

“The generosity shown is massively appreciated by everyone associated with CLAN and it really is fantastic that so many people have supported them in their fundraising effort.

“Everywhere you go in the north-east you can see someone wearing a t-shirt and the popularity and love for the Facebook page and the sayings is really there for all to see.”

Beldie, one of the stars of Cabrach Community Radio, said: “What started as a bit of fun on Facebook soon gathered pace last year and it’s brilliant to now have over 40,000 people on the page – it really is incredible and something we didn’t imagine happening at all.

“We had the idea of selling some merchandise with some of our favourite sayings on them and we were trying to think of some sort of charity who could maybe benefit from these sales.

“Some of us knew of CLAN and the great work it does across the north-east so we thought they would be a good fit.

“We’d like to say massive thanks to all the shops who have sold the t-shirts, hats and mugs and to all those who have bought an item over the last few months. To raise £20,000 is fantastic and we’re delighted that CLAN can benefit from this brilliant total.

“We plan on continuing to sell the merchandise across the north-east and will continue to donate the proceeds to the charity. If we can help out CLAN while continuing to make a lot of folk laugh through the page, it’ll be brilliant.”

CLAN Cancer Support is an independent charity which provides comfort support and information, free of charge, for anyone, of any age, affected by any type of cancer.

CLAN aims to support people to reduce anxiety, stress and to increase their ability to cope with the effects of a serious illness.

Based in Aberdeen, the charity covers the whole of north-east Scotland, Moray, Orkney and Shetland. CLAN has a presence in Ballater, Banchory, Elgin, Inverurie, Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Stonehaven, Kirkwall and Lerwick.

For further information about CLAN Cancer Support please call (01224) 647 000 or visit www.clanhouse.org

Leave a comment