BMF members and guests braved hurricane-force winds and torrential rain swept in by Storm Eowyn to raise £8,500 for charity at the trade body’s annual Burns Night Supper on 24 January.
The BMF’s Burns Night celebration, which commemorates the life and works of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, is its biggest annual event in Scotland, held this year at Cameron House, Loch Lomond.
Guests enjoyed the traditional piping in and addressing of the haggis by piper, Kevin McLeod before Gordon Banks, Director of Cartmore Building Supplies and BMF Scotland Regional Chair, gave the address to the Lassies and Lyndsey McCuish, Operations Manager of PDM replied for the Lassies. Nick Boyle, Sales & Strategic Director at Frazer, ably compered the night’s live auction to boost the funds raised for charity.
Although the ferocious weather prevented a third of those expected from attending, the generosity of the 200 hardy revellers who managed to make their way to the venue meant the night’s fundraising exceeded last year’s total. The money raised will be split between the BMF’s Charities of the Year – Variety, the Children’s Charity and The Educational Frontier Trust (TEFT).
John Newcomb, BMF CEO said: “Once again the BMF’s Scottish region has organised a fantastic event. Our thanks go to sponsors Velux, Azpects, Brett Martin, Fakro GB, Garador, K Rend and SIG for their generous support, and to everyone who braved Scotland’s worst storm in a decade to help raise such a fantastic sum for the BMF’s charities.”
Total BMF membership from 1 January 2025 stands at 1,020 merchant, supplier and service companies who together have combined sales of over £51.6bn and employ nearly 198,000 people in the building materials industry. The BMF’s 535 merchant members, including 81 from Ireland, operate from just under 6,500 branches across the UK and Ireland.
