Bartenders’ sponsored activities raise much-needed cash for charities

Bartenders in Glasgow and Edinburgh showcased the charitable side of Scottish hospitality in the past month by going out of their way to raise money for worthy causes. 

First up was Stevie Aitken, co-owner of Ruma in Edinburgh, who took part in a sponsored half marathon to raise money for mental health charity SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health). 

Despite incurring an injury during the run, Stevie successfully completed the challenge, raising over £700 (at last count) for SAMH in the process via a dedicated JustGiving page. 

SAMH operates more than 70 services in communities across Scotland, providing a wide range of mental health support to people in need.

And in Glasgow, Julia Fletcher Smith, general manager of The Pot Still, is due to shave her head in order to raise money for children’s cancer charity Young Lives vs Cancer.

Julia has so far raised over £1000 for the charity and is due to go ahead with the head shaving on 29th September. 

She told SLTN: “I’ve been trying to push myself for the last few years to do more sponsored/charitable events and I’ve toyed with the idea of shaving my head for charity for a while. 

“The problem always came down to choosing which charity it felt right doing it for.

“I’d come across Young Lives vs Cancer hair raiser challenge completely by luck. I’d heard of the charity before and the amazing work that they do to emotionally and financially support children and young people with cancer and their families. 

“When I found out they do a hair shaving fundraiser for children’s cancer awareness month in September, I knew this was the charity I wanted to support. 

“I think everyone can agree that cancer is one of the scariest things to happen in someone’s life, especially to a young person and the support they give is something that isn’t valued as highly as it should be.

“Although I’d tried to encourage more of team to join me, for now it’ll just be me going full Jason Statham. 

“I’m planning on having my new haircut done in the pub at the end of September in the hopes it encourages more donations on the day. And who knows, maybe others will get the notion and join me. 

“Or my head will be hideous and they’ll donate to make me stop. 

“Either way, it’s a cause worth potentially finding out if I have an ugly head for.”