Recently completing a 1,000 mile cycle from John o’Groats to Land’s End, Greg McAllister – an employee at leading industrial software provider Asset Guardian Solutions Limited (AGSL) – helped the company raise over £3,000 for its corporate charity partner, SAMH (the Scottish Association for Mental Health).
Greg, an enthusiastic cyclist, decided to combine his passion with the company’s annual fundraising campaign to support SAMH and raise awareness of Scotland’s mental health and wellbeing challenge.
“Mental health is something that has always been there and during the last two lockdowns I have noticed how important it is to talk about it and not to shy away from it. With AGSL partnering with SAMH, I felt that it was a good time to set myself a goal. I have wanted to try some sort of endurance challenge for a while and during lockdown I was able to increase my running and cycling to a level that I felt I would be able to complete a multi-day challenge” said McAllister.
“Each day was tough, with poor weather conditions and minor injuries and so I took it slow and steady, but the fundraising campaign helped me keep focused. Luckily arriving at Lands’s End was nice and sunny to finish off! I’d like to thank Asset Guardian for the support they gave me before and during the cycle.”
Greg, who is a reigning world champion bagpiper, was backed by sponsors AGSL, McCallum Bagpipes, MG Reeds and The Rollin Drones, who helped support Greg in raising awareness of the charity and its national mental health programme.
Iain Rennie, Operations Director at AGSL said: “Everyone at AGSL is very proud of Greg and his dedication in completing this challenge. His achievement in cycling the full length of the country should not be underestimated, especially doing it solo without other riders to take some of the load. And of course the fundraising effort for our partner SAMH, where Greg’s contribution should help us break through our target for this year.”
Fiona Lewis, Corporate Partnerships Manager at SAMH, said: “All of us at SAMH are delighted to be Asset Guardian’s charity partner. It’s fantastic that the staff have decided to make mental health their cause. Greg’s achievement is incredible and we cannot thank him enough for showing SAMH and the mental health cause such tremendous support and dedication.
“The funds raised by Greg, and by colleagues throughout our partnership, will fund crucial mental health support for people across Scotland – a huge thank you from everyone at SAMH.”
Donations can still be made via Greg’s JustGiving page
SAMH is committed to supporting Scotland’s mental health, especially during this difficult time. and have created a dedicated online information hub, providing for advice and information on protecting your mental health during these developments. Visit www.samh.org.uk/coronavirus. For more information on SAMH, please visit www.samh.org.uk.
