Buachaille Etive Mor – ECG Facilities Services Charity Hike 2021

The Contract Management Team at ECG Facilities Services have taken on the challenge of hiking the mighty Buachaille Etive Mòr on 23^rd October in aid of our Charity partnerships with both Rangers and Celtic Football Clubs Charitable Foundations. We are looking for our Client and Supply Partner support in donations towards our Charities and would appreciate anything you can give for the team via our Just Giving Page in the link below. Our aim is to see if we can reach £5000 and ECG Facilities Services will match these donations doubling anything that you help us to raise.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ecg-facilitiesservices?utm_id=1&utm_term=wjMZr5zQV

The Challenge

The Challenge for the ECG Contract Management Team is to walk, hike, scramble and possibly crawl the mighty Buachaille Etive Mòr mountain range. The Buchille (as it is known to those who frequent the ‘hills’) is a range of mountains sitting pride of place at the entrance to Glencoe and is the most iconic of all of Scotland’s beautiful mountains.

The Buchille consists of 4 principal peaks with a ridge running between 2 Munros (914.4m or 3000ft above sea level) Stob Dearg at 1022m is the highest point and the first Munro with Stob na Broige 956m the second Munro and the last peak on the ridge. The challenge is to hike a circular route taking in all 4 peaks starting with a strenuous ‘climb’ straight up from the A82 to the top of Stob Dearg. This will involve a bit of light scrambling dependant on mountain goat skills, over an area of rockfall to reach the bealach (saddle between two peaks) but once there it is a relatively clear path up to the first top.

From Stob Dearg the route follows a long ridgeline some 8km in length traversing the bealach and on up and over the next two peaks Stob na Doire and Stob Coire Altruim. Once over these peaks, the mountain ridge narrows all the way to the final top Stob na Broige.

The return route follows up and over Stob Coire Altruim in reverse to a steep scrambly section down the backside of the mountain range where it starts the descent into the Glen below and a welcome level section to round out the journey.

The whole hike over the mountains is approximately 16km and is expected to take between 8 & 10hrs to complete dependant on conditions.

The Charities

The Celtic FC Foundation’s ethos is typified by a determination to create opportunities for society’s most vulnerable and marginalised groups – principally, they address root causes of poverty by equipping individuals with the tools and means to reverse inequality.

The Foundation launched their Football for Good Fund and working with a host of partner charities, alongside schools and community organisations, have set out to provide support in three key areas.

Food and Essentials, Fuel Poverty & Mental Health – Delivering urgent support in the form of food and essentials. Identifying and providing assistance to tackle fuel poverty and promoting mental health and wellbeing to thousands of vulnerable children, families, individuals, pensioners, refugees, the homeless, those living in refuge and NHS frontline staff.

The Rangers Charity Foundation delivers a diverse range of charitable community programmes, as well as managing the Ibrox Community Hub where many sessions take place. Whether it’s improving health, providing access to greater sporting opportunities, the strength to move on from the blight of addiction or the chance of a job for the first time, the Rangers Charity Foundation is committed to being a force for good in the community.

The Foundation also works alongside and partner with a host of National and International Charities such as Unicef, Children 1^st, Glasgow City Mission, Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity, ssafa the Armed Forces Charity & Erskine all working to create community programs helping the most vulnerable and making a positive and lasting difference to the lives of local people every day.

The Team

The Contract Management Team for ECG (Scotland) Hikers and Support Crew – (from l-r) David McInally, Kris Barclay, James Shaw, William Mullen, Barry Cranston, Simon Paul, Jackson Kerr, Andrew Wilson, Marc Leary, Mark Cunningham, Graham Boyd & Scott Murray