A group of five friends from around Moffat, Thornhill and Lockerbie are pulling together to help raise money for Blood Cancer UK in memory of their good friend Alan Kennedy, who sadly lost his epic six-year battle with cancer last year.

Alan, aged just 49, was well-known in the farming community for his shearing skills and his show-winning Parkgate Charollais flock from Dumfries, which produced breed and inter-breed winners at many events, including the Royal Highland Show, Dumfries, Border Union, and Ayr shows.

Leading the fundraiser is Andrew Marchant, alongside Alisdair Davidson, Scott Dempster, Mark Stewart, and Iain Dick. Andrew describes: “The six of us were good pals, having known each other since our Young Farmer days. Alan put up a strong fight over the six years, and we admired how he always remained so positive throughout. You’d give him a call and ask how he was doing, and he’d always come out with something upbeat. We knew we wanted to do something in his memory, but it has to be a real challenge to live up to the example he set us all.

“During his time, we enjoyed many great days at Kelso Tup sales, and when it came to deciding on a way to fundraise, this played a key part.”

The fundraising idea quickly grew in scope, or ‘grew arms and legs’ as they say— or in this case, horns. The group have decided to take on the honorary challenge, named ‘The Rampage!’, of pulling a sheep sculpture 52 miles from Kelso Showground to the ram statue in Moffat. The challenge will begin on Friday, August 9, and they aim to finish in Moffat on the afternoon of Saturday, August 10.

“We have kindly been lent the use of a sheep sculpture from Eaglesfield Primary School, as seen in the RHASS ‘Flock to the Show’ campaign.” added Andrew.

Having reached over £4000 in donations so far, the group are grateful for any further support via their JustGiving link here