Gordon Duguid, a painter at ARI, took up running five years ago in order to keep fit. Gordon (45) said: "I got the running bug quite quickly and before long I was doing 10k runs and half marathons, but Edinburgh was my first full marathon."

He completed the run in an impressive 3hrs 37 minutes and has raised £2600 which he is donating to Friends of ANCHOR

Gordon said;  "I raised £1300 from family, friends and colleagues but my friend who has a sister being treated at the ANCHOR Unit, has matched that through the generosity of his colleagues at Gray and Adams Ltd in Fraserburgh, so I'm just delighted with what we've achieved."

Gordon's wife Laura works in Health Records at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital added: "We're all so proud of him!"

Friends of ANCHOR would like to say thank you to all Gordon's sponsors and a huge thank you to him for choosing to support our charity.

Pictured: Gordon with his wife, Laura outside the ARI in Aberdeen

Melanie Wilson from Meikle Wartle celebrated her 21st birthday on the 26th june 2010. Family and friends attended her pink themed birthday party at The Carmelite Hotel in Aberdeen on Saturday 19 June and kindly made donations to the sum of £200 . Thank you to everyone who contributed to this generous donation and special thanks to birthday girl Melanie for her selfless act of requesting donations instead of receiving gifts.

A very Happy Birthday Melanie and congratulations, we hope the year ahead brings you good health and great happiness!

Pictured: Sitting pretty in pink -  birthday girl Melanie Wilson

Friends, Sandy Donald, Dess, Aboyne and Rob McCombie, Dinnet, have recorded a CD of their favourite bothy ballads which have been sold and have raised, to date, £1,500 for Friends of ANCHOR.

Sandy, who sings on the CD, is accompanied by Rob, who plays the accordion, and together they recorded 14 tracks including popular songs; ‘Auld Meal Mill, ‘Lonely in the bothy’ and ‘Jeannie McCall’ to name but a few. It was recorded by their friend, Isobel McCall, Torphins.

The gifted Aberdeenshire musicians decided to record and sell their CD to raise funds for Friends of ANCHOR as they have friends and family who have been patients of the ANCHOR unit at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

CD are still available at £7.00 each; please call 01224 859153 to reserve your copy

Pictured left to right:

Sandy Donald, Rob McCombie & Fiona JD Pearson, fundraising manager, Friends of ANCHOR.

Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire was rocking on Friday 18 June 2010 at the start of the Oldmeldrum Sports weekend which kicked off with 'Friday Night Live 2010'. Four bands took to the stage in the giant marquee for a rocking good time. Original 106 fm's breakfast DJ, Neil Weightman was the MC for the event which saw over 400 people enjoy a fantastic evening of live music.

Friends of ANCHOR would like to thank the Oldmeldrum Sports Committee for choosing our charity to benefit from the proceeds of this event which came to the grand total of £1,871.

We would also like to thank Neil and the bands; Jack Paget & his band, Indian Rope, Eskimo Blonde,The Chandeliers & The Lorelei. Special thanks also to Dave MacKay & the Creative Lighting & Sound crew and a big thank you to everyone who came along and helped to raise this fantastic amount.

 Pictured: The Chandeliers in action at Friday Night Live 2010

Heather Hawthorn, Westhill, Aberdeen completed the gruelling West Highland Way from the 13th to the 19th of May and raised £500 for Friends of ANCHOR. She walked with a group of friends and despite blisters they all enjoyed the experience. 

The West Highland way links Milngavie to Fort William – a distance of 154km (96 miles) - from the northern outskirts of Glasgow, to the foot of Ben Nevis at Fort William. The Route passes through Mugdock Country Park, follows the shores of Loch Lomond, passing Ben Lomond, through Glen Falloch and Strathfillan, crossing Rannoch Moor, past Buachaille Etive Mor to the head of Glencoe, climbing the Devil’s Staircase, descending to sea level to cross the River Leven at the head of Loch Leven before entering Lairigmor and Glen Nevis. The terrain ranges from lowland moors, dense woodland and rolling hills, to high mountainous regions in the Scottish Highlands.

Top pic: Heather extreme right with her friends at the start of the walk.

Bottom pic: Heather extreme left after completing the marathon walk.