Local railway posters on sale to help fund Innis trip to Guyana

Innis Sherwood-Thompson (17), who will be working as a volunteer with Project Trust to teach maths and science for a year, is delighted to have been chosen for this exciting venture but has to raise over £6,000 to fund the expedition.

One of the Balfron High School’s supporters, Jim Thomson, came up with the idea of creating a local railway poster which shows a steam train going past Dumgoyne.

He explained: “I’d done a few fundraising bits and pieces for Innis earlier and on a recent visit to the National Railway Museum in York I thought what a good idea it would be to create our own local railway poster. “I commissioned the oil painting of the steam train racing past Glengoyne Distillery and we created the two designs – one of the poster and one of the painting itself – to make the cards and framed A4 posters.”

Innis said: “I have to raise enough to cover everything from fares to inoculations and have been working hard to do this since I was selected.

“The good news is that just before Christmas I reached the halfway mark and we have other things in the pipeline to hopefully finish the job.

“The idea of the notecards and postcards is that people who can’t make a big donation can buy these and still help me to raise the money I need to help the children in Guyana. It all adds up.”

The merchandise will be on sale at Strathblane Library and other Blanefield outlets and it is hoped that the oil painting itself will be auctioned by silent auction on Saturday, March 4 at Innis’ “Mad March Ceilidh” at the Edmondstone Hall, Blanefield.

To find out more about Innis’ venture and to keep up with how he is getting on you can check his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/innisyearwithpt