Kate Synott, Fundraising and Awareness Manager writes:

"2010 proved to be a very busy and successful year for UCAN and if the start of 2011 is anything to go by we are in for another bumper year.

Being fundraising manager for any charity has it's particular challenges especially in this difficult economic climate. That's why this year I've had to be creative, not to mention brave in getting the UCAN message across.

The scariest thing this year had to be the WAGS Dinner where I foolishly pitched myself against three others in a speaking competition in front of 400 people. Believe me it was worse than the 2009 bungee jump! However even though I didn't win it certainly reminded people what UCAN is all about and solicited a generous donation from Norman Esslemont who organised the event.

My most recent adventure has involved 36 helicopter rides and dressing up in a particularly fetching shade of yellow. I am now a fully fledged North Sea Tiger, having spent the last five months travelling to oil installa- tions in the North and Southern North Sea. These trips involved giving awareness raising talks to over 500 employees. Both Conoco Phillips and Talisman Energy have committed time and resources to this activity and have been delighted with the response. It makes getting up at 4.30am so much more bearable!

The highlight of 2010 has to be the massive feat of bravery in the creation of our cycle event MOG JOG. But the bravery awards in this case go to the 15 crazy cyclists who took on the 433 mile ride in only four days. We had a real mixture of age and experience, including Suzanne who didn't own a bike when she registered and Stanley (66) who had recently recovered from bladder cancer. The whole experience was awesome and my role only involved putting up and taking down 15 tents each day. Although this event was over six months ago even writing about it makes emotional—a mixture of gratitude and respect.

Many thanks to the support team and to the participants Ali Stott, Stan Kay, Lauren Temple, Suzanne Mair, Robin Hewitt, Graham Reid, Julie McNeil, Graham Smith, Phil Allan, Chris Clark, Ian Ord, Scott Langlands, Mark Miller, Michael Bain and Stan Roberts for making the event truly memorable, and it cant have all been bad as some of them have signed up for the UCAN Ride the North which takes place 2 June 2011!!

A huge thank you to Alan Pirie of Aberdeen Property Leasing for donating his van for the duration of the event."