The chance for a group of talented young musicians from Uist - the 'Flying Fiddles' - to play at the Cape Breton Festival has been scuppered by the collapse of Zoom Airlines, and they are now left with the task of raising £6000 to buy replacement tickets.

In October this year I am taking on the challenge of trekking over 100km along the Great Wall of China for charity. As a Scot with a great love of the mountains, to which I try to return to as much as possible, my chosen charity is Mountain Rescue for Scotland.