The chances are most people in the north-east will never have heard of the Khyber Pass Association (KPA), let alone know it is celebrating its 60th anniversary.
This, after all, is an organisation which doesn’t like to toot its own horn, preferring to work quietly behind the scenes on enhancing so many young people’s lives.
Colin Clyne, a Granite City singer-songwriter, who has gained a global reputation from recording with the likes of producer Alan Sanderson, whose other clients include The Rolling Stones and U2, is involved in plenty of the KPA’s activities and his colleague, Dennis Black, has delved into the history of how the group attained their unusual name.
It stretches back to 1962 when Aberdonian Sandy Findlay, while working in the oil industry in Kuwait, was a member of a driving club whose excursions with his colleagues often took him into the desert. One day, as they gazed at a group of sand dunes, somebody remarked it looked like the Khyber Pass – and the spark was lit.
And, once he returned to his roots, Sandy created the KPA initiative in a bid to raise money for disadvantaged and underprivileged children in the Aberdeen area.
Since the 1980s, the charity has amassed more than £175,000 for local youngsters and has demonstrated ingenuity and a willingness to reach out to some serious names.
The Dons rallied to the cause
One of their first major fundraising events was in 1985 when Gothenburg Great Alex McLeish, an honorary member of the KPA who attended several Christmas parties for disadvantaged children, played a prominent part in a VSA-backed boxing night which raised £3,000, and that was the first in a long series of grassroots goodwill gestures.
There was also a summer picnic and disco at the Old Mill Inn with members dressing up as favourite TV characters, including The Incredible Hulk and The Muppets, which was attended and supported by Willie Miller and Alex Ferguson, the captain and manager of the most successful side in Pittodrie history.
Colin is performing a concert at Aberdeenshire Cricket Club on November 12 to swell the coffers, and has been impressed by the motivational powers and philanthropic attitude of his KPA associates. As he stressed: “Every penny raised goes to those who need it; we have no administrative costs and we aim to do whatever we can to improve folks’ lives.”
He added that the varied beneficiaries over the years include such worthwhile charities as Giving Tree, Instant Neighbour and Charlie House, and the association has also bolstered individual children with specific needs, while more recently establishing fruitful links with the likes of AberNecessities, CFINE and Home-Start.
Colin, who has a family of his own, appreciates that many others are facing financial difficulties in the current climate. He’s not the only person to wonder why there are so many vulnerable kids in the oil capital of Europe, but he’s doing what he can to help.
You can reach out to him via his website www.colinclyne.com or email him directly at colin.clyne@gmail.com
There are also limited tickets available through Eventbrite with this link:Â https://bit.ly/3wOYA1sKPACharity
Conversation