An employee from Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution is packing his bags and heading to Harris for his summer holiday, thanks to an extraordinary act of kindness by one of the island’s residents.
Annie Tempest - who lives and works on the beautiful island off the west coast of Scotland - was so grateful to the men and women who restored the electricity supplies by working tirelessly through the storms that struck the north of the country in January, that she gifted a week long stay in her holiday cottage to one of them.
Not sure how to make such an offer, Annie turned to social media to get her message across:
“The storms we had here in January were amongst the worst I’d seen and when I thought of the appalling conditions the engineers were working in to get our electricity back on, I felt I had to show my thanks.
“I was amazed that people were working outside throughout the awful storms and whipping winds in January just to restore the power to the people of Harris, and elsewhere across Scotland, where the power had been disrupted. I thought about those workers who might only ever get to know Harris as a place where the wind is constantly howling and the rain never stops lashing down. I wanted to 'pay it forward' and show my gratitude to those who made it easier for me to live here when the weather was at its worst.
“July is stunning here, so I booked out my holiday home - Moorfield Cottage - for the last week of the month, then posted my message of thanks and my offer of the stay on SSEPD’s facebook page.”
Annie’s offer was so unusual that SSEPD had to check through various sources before they knew the gift could be accepted, but once all of the legalities and formalities were carried out, it was time to find a worthy winner for a week of relaxation on the island of Harris. The only fair way was to number all of the names of those who had worked during the extreme weather event and use a random selector to pick a number, and as the workforce for that time reached well over 1,000 there were plenty of numbers to choose from.
In the end, the programme picked number 38 which had been allocated to Ross Marquis, a charge hand in the tree cutting department based in Inverness.
“I actually thought it was a joke when I got the phone call. When I answer my work phone, I expect to be told about the details of a job, not a holiday cottage on Harris,” said Ross. “I can’t get over Annie’s generosity and it really means a lot to me and my colleagues to know that what we do is appreciated. During the storms in January, I was based in Gairloch and the surrounding areas for 10 days, repairing power lines and carrying out tree cutting works where trees had come down in the strong winds and damaged the power lines.”
Thanks to Annie and her partner Rob - who helps to run the cottage and ensures that every visitor to it is greeted with a freshly baked loaf - Ross is now looking forward to a week in the glorious Scottish countryside with his partner, Natalie and their dogs, Jesse and Coullie.
“We love being outdoors; walking, mountain biking, camping and snowboarding in the winter, and we’ve got flippers from our last holiday, so I can guarantee we’ll be using them to take a swim in the waters off Harris,” added Ross.
The severe weather event that struck the north and west of Scotland in January saw four days of winds reaching more than 100mph, blizzards, lightning and ice with large parts of the Highlands and Western Isles rendered impassable and the electricity network inaccessible to engineering teams. Over 1,300 technical and support staff were mobilised in advance of the approaching storm, handling thousands of calls and restoring power to over 120,000 customers, while alternative accommodation was found for SSEPD’s most vulnerable customers who required a priority service. In addition, over 20,000 free hot meals and 30,000 hot and cold drinks were provided at more than 30 locations, through mobile catering facilities and also by hiring local restaurants, hotels and food businesses.
Rodney Grubb, SSEPD’s Head of Operations (North) said: “The severe weather we experienced in January was exceptional in that we had four consecutive events on four consecutive days, but we knew it was coming and had planned accordingly by moving additional staff and welfare to the areas that we knew would be worst hit.
“It wasn’t by any means an easy task, but the patience and the gratitude of our customers and the reward of getting them back on supply as quickly and as safely as possible makes our jobs worthwhile. What Annie has done, by gifting a week at her holiday home on Harris is above anything we expected and I’m delighted that Ross has been able to accept her generous offer.
“I lived and worked on Harris for some years, so I know exactly why Annie loves the island so much and why I’m sure Ross will feel the same when he, his partner and their dogs step off the ferry.”