I had been a Runrig/Bruce fan for over 20 years and had the pleasure of meeting Bruce on 2 occasions.   As a musician myself i would cover lots of runrig songs at my my live gigs over the years and always found their music to be very uplifting.

When covid came along in 2020 my gigs came to a sudden end.   I work as a psychiatric nurse in a mental health emergency assessment team so this side of my life exploded.   Suddenly i felt i was working 24/7 as i had nothing else in my life.  My partner worked in care and we lived separate at the tine so couldn't see each other, i couldn't visit family or friends and couldn't play music.   All i could do to see people was go to work.   I felt this affect me in a way id never been affected before and with no end to this in sight i found myself thinking - if this is what life is, i cant keep doing this.

Then i saw an announcement online, Bruce would be going live on Runrigs Facebook page that night.   I tuned in to hear Bruce talk of the difficulties that covid was facing us with and hear him talk about how he was affected by restrictions.   He wanted to give us all hope we would get out the other side and then shsred s song with us - Hearts of Olden Glory - accompanied by Dylan and Jodi.   I never thought id hear Bruce sing live again and to hear him singing one of my favourite songs was both uplifting and inspiring.   It made me realise that EVERYONE was affected by this and that even on the other side of the world, Bruce could still reach out to us and keep us alive with his music.   I started to do lots of hone recording and compiled an album of my own recordibgs and compositions.   Bruce reminded me i had something other than just work that i could do.    This came at a time when i needed it most and i have to say i never looked back.

Bruce and his music have brought me many moments of happiness and comfort over the years-  too many to mention - but for me this was the most recent and significant.

His incredible voice and energetic presence will never be replaced, but theres not one person who has ever met him or listened to his music who will ever forget him.

My thoughts are with you all.

Gary Cleghorn

Kelso, Scotland