Kilsyth dad is trading up to raise charity cash in guitar quest

Stewart Strachan (34) who lives in Cavalry Park is setting out to trade his way up from a simple guitar pick to a full guitar, which he hopes to auction for the charity MND Scotland which caters to those with Motor Neurone Disease.

The former Kilsyth Academy pupil who is married to Carrie (35) and father of three young boys Rudy (6), Koby (3) and Mylo (1) decided to support the charity after losing his Aberdonian grandmother Margaret Mcdonald to the condition - where cells and nerves in the brain stop working.

Much-loved Margaret passed away back in 2009, just three months after her diagnosis.

Stewart who is a planning engineer said: “It’s a couple of years since I last did some fundraising and now that things are starting to return to some sort of normality, I wanted to do something this summer.

“But with the boys still being so young and still having to work from home because of the pandemic, I am struggling to find the time and energy required to train for another endurance race.

“So, whilst looking for inspiration elsewhere, I came across a video on social media of a girl who was attempting to turn a kirby grip into a house through up trading on Facebook marketplace.

"The enormity of the challenge intrigued me, and I thought that I could try something similar and find a way to raise money in doing so.

“So, from this I came up with the idea of attempting to turn a guitar pick into a guitar.

“And the resulting guitar, when I eventually get there, will be auctioned or raffled off with all proceeds going to MND Scotland.

“In the last week or so I have set up an Instagram page to document the journey, and I have made a start with the trading.

"So far, I have managed to trade the guitar pick for a single coil guitar pickup with a lovely guy from Leeds, and also have the next two trades lined up for as soon as I receive the pickup in the post.”

If you would like to help Stewart with his trade-up challenge for MND Scotland, please visit his Instagram page at www.instagram.com/pick_to_guitar_challenge.