Tesco's Inshes Inverness team chip in with ultra-generous support former colleague John Baillie who has now raised over £6000 for the Erskine veterans' charity with "cross-Atlantic" rowing challenge – equivalent of west coast of Scotland to Canada
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Employees at Tesco Inshes have been sticking their oar in to help an octogenarian former colleague from Inverness who has now raised over £6,000 for charity by attempting to row the equivalent of an Atlantic crossing.
Rather than risk it all on the high seas, Johnnie Baillie (80) is using a static rower to notch up the nautical miles, touring supermarkets and shopping areas to stoke up interest.
With incredible stamina and resilience, he has now clocked up more than 1860 miles – or three million metres – from the total target distance of around 3000 miles, the equivalent of traversing between the west coast of Scotland and Labrador in Canada.
Recently, Mr Baillie has seen an outpouring of support from colleagues at Tesco stores, who have kindly provided a steady flow of donations for their friend and former colleague.
Caron Dalby, community champion at Tesco Inverness Inshes Extra, said: “I’ve been friends with John now for 19 years and both throughout his years at Tesco and post-retirement, he has always played a massive role in being a pillar of our communities through his hard work and fundraising.
“Everyone in store has been hugely generous towards helping John and it’s fantastic to see them take on such an incredible challenge for such a good cause.”
Mr Baillie, who lives with his wife Gina, in Glenburn Drive, joined the Tesco team back in 1997, working across stores in Inverness for 30 years before retiring in 2017.
The former CCTV security guard, driver and customer champion at Tesco stores across Inverness, is raising money for the Erskine Veterans charity, which supports veterans across Scotland.
He said: “I’ve always enjoyed fundraising in any way, shape or form and finding new ways to raise money for fantastic causes has always been an exciting task for me."
Mr Baillie's other fundraising efforts have included raising a further £25,000 for causes such as Red Nose Day, the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland and the local shinty club in Inverness.
Educated at Durness Primary School and the former Sutherland Technical School in Golspie, Mr Baillie joined the Royal Military Police for three years at 18, and served for mostly in security at NATO Headquarters, then located in Paris.
He always maintained an interest in the army, and after his return to civilian life, joined the army reserve. He volunteered for a spell as a member of the British peacekeeping force in Bosnia in the 1990s.
His father, John Baillie, was one of the Highlands’ most experienced sheep stock experts of his generation and was awarded MBE for his contribution to agriculture.
