AN intrepid team of runners from the Loch Lomond Group distillery company wore their hearts on their sleeves recently to raise more than £2,000 for charity.

Fourteen staff members at the firm, which runs a bottling plant in Catrine, signed up to take part in the Great Scottish Run after being inspired by the lifesaving effect of an on-site defibrillator that saved the life of a colleague and joined forces to raise £2,208 for Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland.

The company, which operates sites in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire and Campbeltown in Argyll, as well as the Glen Catrine bonded warehouse, has now also put more defibrillators in each location and trained its staff in how to use the vital equipment.

Staff gathered recently to hand over a cheque for the final total to Loui se McLeod, community, events and corporate fundraising (west) for Chest, Hear t and Stroke Scotland.

Emily Cross, environment and sustainability manager for Loch Lomond Group, helped organise the fundraising efforts and was one of the 14 who took to the streets of Glasgow for the Great Scottish Run.

She said: “We wanted to turn what could have been a very negative event into something positive, and we did that.

“The event was a big success considering some of us had never run before.

“I’m absolutely thrilled at the amount we raised for CHSS because it was so important to us to support an organisation that does so much for those with heart conditions.

“Taking part in the Great Scottish Run has given us the inspiration to do more for charity events across our sites and to set our sights high.”

Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland is Scotland’s largest health charity, helping people with chest, heart and stroke conditions live life to the full.

Services include support from specialist stroke nurses, community support workers, and volunteers, as well as the Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland advice line and peer support groups.

For more information about fundraising for Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland visit the charity’s website.

The Great Scottish Run saw around 25,000 people take part over distances of 10km or 13 miles through the streets of Glasgow on the first weekend of October, running along the banks of the Clyde and past some of the city’s best known landmarks.

Established in 1974, the Glen Catrine facility is one of the largest independent bottling plants in Scotland and bottles vodka, gin, rum and brandy as well as the Loch Lomond Group’s whisky brands.