Northern Church Hosts 'Man in a Shack'

Bunillidh Church in Helmsdale, just 55 miles from John O’Groats, hosted a Man in a Shack on Tuesday night.

Dave Hall (above), a 50-year-old chartered accountant, is running 40 marathons back-to-back from John O’Groats to Land’s End, sleeping each night in a replica Sierra Leone slum-town shack. He stopped in Helmsdale on the second night of his challenge, where the Rev John MacGregor and members of his congregation at Bunillidh Church served Dave and his road team with freshly caught trout and other local delicacies.

Dave - aka 'the Man in a Shack' - has taken on the challenge to raise funds for the new charity Home Leone. The aim is to raise enough money to build 40 new homes for families who currently live in abject poverty in the Freetown slums. To donate, or for more information, visit www.maninashack.com

“The plight of Sierra Leone really touched our hearts,” said a member of Bunillidh Church. “Dave told us about one boy who has to sleep in a disused abattoir. Every night he puts sugar on his mattress to keep the bugs away from him.

“The people there tend to live in close knit communities but in abject poverty. As a close knit community in Scotland, we are delighted to support Dave the work of Home Leone which is taking practical steps to alleviate the suffering in what in this stricken country."

Dave began his challenge at John O’Groats on August 18 and plans to cross the finish line at Land’s End on September 26.

Dave said: “The support from the people and passers-by in Helmsdale was incredible and I’d like to thank those who ran along-side to show their support. The challenge is tough but the messages of support and encouraging crowds are keeping me going.

“It’'s going to get more difficult as the days go on but my visit to Sierra Leone inspired me to do something positive. With the help of the team at Home Leone, we’ve developed this challenge to help raise awareness of the families suffering extreme poverty and more importantly raise much needed funds for the cause of what is happening in the country.”

Comments

Catherine Buchan - Friday, August 29th, 2014

“We hosted Dave and his support team in Newtonmore on Monday night. He now knows a little about the sport of shinty! ”

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