Scotland’s First Minister, John Swinney, made a visit to a Hamilton travel agency to show support for the team’s fundraising activities.

Colleagues from Hays Travel in Hamilton have organised a sponsored walk to raise money for Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust, which will take place on Sunday 7 June at Strathclyde Park in Motherwell. 

The First Minister visited the branch on Wednesday to show support for the initiative.

He said: “Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust is a brilliant charity and it’s fantastic the team at Hays Travel are supporting them. I wish you lots of success with the walk in June.” 

Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust is a local charity helping cancer patients all over Lanarkshire by giving them free transport to and from hospital. 

 Hays Travel Hamilton’s assistant manager, Amanda Harvie, has played a big part in planning the fundraising.

She said: “This is an amazing local charity that provides an essential lifeline for many of our local community at a difficult time.

“Please come along on Sunday 7 June to Strathclyde Park, where we will be meeting by the fairground at 10am. 

"Donate if you can or just come along to support and say hi.”   

As well as arranging the fundraising walk, Amanda contacted Rangers and Celtic football clubs, who have both donated vouchers for tours of the stadiums and trophy rooms, and these have been gifted to drivers from the charity. 

Hays Travel is the UK’s largest independent travel agent, with branches across the UK – all committed to supporting their customers and the local communities they serve. 

Each Hays Travel branch is provided with a £500 budget to use for fundraising and charity work in their local area; £200 of this is to be used to fundraise for charities which support young people’s mental health, and the other £300 can be used for charities chosen by the branch. 

In the last year, Hays Travel’s Local Community Partnership initiative across its retail network has donated almost £170,000 to local charities. 

For anyone in the area who would like to join the Hays Travel team for their fundraising walk, they will be meeting at 10am on Sunday 7 June by the fairground at Strathclyde Park. Full details can be found on the Hays Travel Hamilton Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HaysTravelHamiltonLanarkshire/