Ronald Cameron
Ron is a crofter, adventurer and author of a number of school history books and various magazine articles (in both Gaelic and English). Ron befriended Andy Jackson in Tain, Easter Ross when Andy was 19 and he was 43.
Ron’s rates his best climb as the West Face of Mt Kenya: on the 7th ascent with John Temple. His best river trip as the Affric with AJ and Bridget c.1995. And he rates skiing the West Face of Aonach Mòr with AJ alongside Toubkal (Morocco) and Gran Paradiso (Italy).
He was stupid/smart enough to rent Andy a house for about six years. Sometimes he thinks he should have stuck to climbing but paddling and skiing with Andy was a life enhancing experience.
The royalties from this book will be divided equally between the Andy Jackson Fund for Access and the IcFEM
Andy Jackson Fund For Access
Those of you who have read this book or who knew Andy Jackson will have gathered how passionate he was about the rivers of Scotland and the fundamental premise of freedom of access for all. Andy had a strong in-built sense of social rights and there would have been few places that he saw these as being more important than when getting to his favourite rivers with his paddling buddies.
These values fuelled Andy's commitment to the publishing in 2001 of the first comprehensive guidebook to whitewater kayaking in Scotland. The idea behind this guidebook was that the paddling community would write it and the money raised would be put towards protecting their rivers. In particular, the proceeds would help to protect and secure access to the rivers of Scotland for years to come.
Scottish Whitewater was, and still is, one of the best kayaking guidebooks available throughout the world and is now in its second edition. Andy carried out the first descents of a high proportion of the 200 rivers detailed in the guidebook and he made the selfless decision to share this hard won information with others in order to help protect the rivers and to encourage others in the sport he loved.
Following Andy's death a new charity was set up named The Andy Jackson Fund for Access (Scottish Charity number SCO38644). Proceeds from sales of the Scottish Whitewater guidebook as well as a more recent Scottish Canoe Touring guidebook now go directly to this charity. A proportion of proceeds from Tall Stories will also go to this charity – a fact Andy would have been extremely proud of!
The Andy Jackson Fund for Access is a discretionary trust fund and grant aid may be made to projects which protect and promote access to water in Scotland for the sport of canoeing. Protecting and promoting access to the rivers and other waterways of Scotland is an ongoing task and all donations, both large and small, are welcome. For more information about the Fund and for details of how to donate, please look online at www.wheresthewater.com/access-fund
IcFEM Kenya
Ron writes about his chosen charity:
My wife, Sheila, and I spent the best years of our life near Kimilili, a village in Western Kenya where most live on the margins of survival. For six years we were looked after by an old Kenyan called Laurenti Biketi. He was 60 when we left at the end of 1976. For the last fifteen years or so we've been sending him a monthly pension via IcFEM who get the tax rebate due to a charity. In return they manage a fund for him. when his house was destroyed in a storm they built him a new one. He's 91 now and that's an amazing age for a Mubukusu.
IcFEM is a non denominational evangelical Christian organisation, founded by Kenyans, based in Kimilili. Apart from their religious work they have done amazing things in education. They have their own primary school and health care via their own day hospital. I've seen both of these places on video and they would have been beyond all dreams in the Kenya I knew. They have been working on reproductive health and HIV; agriculture; encouraging sustainable farming with appropriate technology ; care for the elderly and for vulnerable children; business start ups and business credit; care for people with disabilities and corrective surgery.
Its an amazing organisation and a model of sustainable development coming from within an African country. Giving them some of the royalties gives me a chance to give something back to Western Kenya for the great years I spent there.
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