May was a month full of secrets and surprises thanks to volunteer, Gail Burns, who had nominated Lynne for a One Big Thank You on BBC’s The One Show.

Unbeknown to our Co-Founder and Chair, Lynne, our Trusts and Funding Manager, Angela had received a call from the BBC asking for lots of information to put before the One Show Panel to consider Gail’s nomination. Fast forward 3 weeks of planning and skulduggery and the scene was set for a huge surprise under the guise of a film crew arriving that day at the Ripple Retreat to film a news piece.

The team were all nervous wondering how they could pull this off, but they certainly did. Their acting skills throughout the day were second to none!  They even managed, with the help of our Events Assistant, Nic, to convince Lynne to go on a boat so that Alfie Boe OBE (hiding in the store shed!) could arrive on the pier to surprise and serenade her when she arrived back at the pier. Even Mike, who was skippering the boat, was in on the secret!

Families and volunteers also arrived to cheer Lynne back in and to celebrate the One Big Thank You with her. As Lynne got closer to the pier, she realised there were more people on the pier than when she had left. When she was back on dry land, suddenly, she heard an incredible voice and started thinking ‘that sounds like Alfie Boe’ before realising it was in fact Alfie Boe standing right there in front of her!

The emotion Lynne felt was evident. Alfie confessed as to why he was there and led Lynne back into the retreat to watch some heart-warming thank you messages on the TV from various people including Ronan Keating and Strictly winner Ore Oduba!   

It didn't take long for Lynne to ask Alfie to become a Patron. He agreed straight away. We are delighted to have Alfie’s support. He has invited us to his concert at the Usher Hall in October and we have lots of other ideas up our sleeves of how we can work together to support young cancer patients and their families in Scotland.

What a day – vastly different to the business as usual day Lynne thought she was having.

A heartfelt thank you to Alfie for supporting It’s good 2 give. We’re so proud to have such an amazing individual on board. Join us in welcoming Alfie to the It’s good 2 give family!

You can watch Lynne’s One Big Thank You here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsVarjQLqD4