Highlander staff were esteemed and privileged guests at the recent Sunday Mail “Great Scots” night at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow.
This was our first year attending the awards which look to show some well deserved recognition to Scots, ordinary folks and stars – who have made a difference to the lives of people in the country in a wide variety of ways such as music, business, sport and community volunteering efforts.
The ballroom was jam-packed without a spare seat in the house as some of Scotland’s best known celebrities mingled in with the crowd to pay tribute to the winners of the various categories within the Great Scot awards and of course, to be truly humbled in the presence of the overall winner on the evening!
The Highlander Clan’s evening started with an initial rendezvous at our depot for a few light refreshments and then we were all coached off to the Hilton, all the staff looked fantastic in their formal dress with the one usual suspect wearing a kilt to the proceedings!
Upon arrival at the Hilton, the clan quickly found their way to the main bar and saw many famous Scots from politicians, business-people and a celebrity baker, Flora Shedden!
The evening compromised the awards themselves, fine dining and of course numerous trips to the bar (it was after all very thirsty work!) and celebrating the contribution made by big hearted Scots who make a significant impact to the lives of our fellow citizens everyday.
It seems that Paisley pattern is not the only great thing to have come from Paisley, with 2 of its famous citizens featuring on the winners stage, being singer Paulo Nutini and screen writer Steven Moffat, who scooped the music and entertainment awards respectively.
Paulo certainly caught the attention of the bulk of the Highlander table, with the clan members converging on the stage as soon as his four song set started although Stephen was more interested in Gordon Strachan who presented Paulo’s award!
Other categories and winners included Golfer Bernard Gallacher winning the Lifetime achievement award, Para-Olympian David Smith winning the Sport award, Largs Euro-millions winners Chris and Colin Weir who won the charity award and Visit Scotland who picked up the business award. More info on the awards can be found at the link below:
The final awards however went to someone whom most laymen would never had heard of and that alone, makes the whole concept of the awards a worthwhile enterprise as many people would never have been aware of this remarkable individual without the coverage of the Great Scot platform. 96 year old Captain Eric Brown, recognised within aviation circles as Britain’s best and bravest pilot was named Great Scot 2015, at what was the 25 year silver anniversary celebration of the awards. Nicknamed “Winkle” because of his diminutive 5ft 7in frame, he completed 2407 aircraft carrier landings and flew 487 types of aircraft, two world records that are unlikely ever to be matched, this Great Scot award simply compliments a CBE and Distinguished Service Cross both won previously. Winning a Great Scot Award this year is particularly poignant for Eric as it is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, a camp he helped to liberate. For the full story on this extraordinary man, please click on the web-site below which includes a video of Eric discussing the award and some of his exploits in action.
Other worthy winners of awards included the Scots Doctors and nurses who helped fight the Ebola crisis in Africa, Mario Di Maio a volunteer with the Aberdeen Mountain Rescue who for nearly half a century has been saving lives on Scotland’s mountains and other noteworthy volunteers who would otherwise go unrecognised without the prestige of these famous awards.
We are delighted to show some pictures of the evening from the clan perspective, thank you for taking the time to read this article and we hope to be of service to you soon!
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