 This is around the Northwest for a Thursday afternoon and now a Reverend Jim LeMond's latest book called Highland Hope which was launched, well Highland Hope was launched two years ago during lockdown actually, it was in November of 2020 but it's now raised 30,000 euro for the hospice and the latest donation of 5,000 euro is due to be made today but he has published his third book and again proceeds going to the Donegal Hospice it's a 140 page selection of inspirational thought for the day type stories and they all started actually on my when I was doing the breakfast show and Jim used to do thought for the day and it's kind of started from there that's where that's where I think the inspiration came from and he built up so many thoughts if you like over the months and years that decided he was going to put them into a book but anyhow the the the two books to date uh his Highland Reflections and Highland Inspiration between those two books and concerts 125,000 that is some fundraising 125,000 has gone to the Donegal Hospice anyhow I'm delighted that Reverend Jim LeMond and Fiona McNutt from the Highland High Hope Committee joins us now in the studio we're streaming as well good afternoon to you both nice to be here and uh and thanks for coming in and you're right about your program that's what started it yeah and also I remember at that time you weren't too fond of people who you've been on too long I'm still not no anyway there's nice chatting to you Jim and I know and I learned a lot from that because I was able to cut everything down to 90 seconds but they were they were great and they are great and because it I remember when we were playing on the breakfast show and they never did go on for too long and but then anything that's really interesting never does but they they just gave you like in the morning the morning show used to be busy it still is busy but just it was sort of a it was just a chance to pause in the morning and reflect a little bit and and and they were great and they they did just that but you built up such a collection often that you eventually decided well you know maybe it makes sense for these to go into a book yes we're actually three books what's the first one can you remember Highland Reflections Inspiration Inspiration then Highland Reflections and then Highland Hope this one here and uh I mean I thought I thought the one was going to be enough and then I decided to do the second and then I was pressurized you know people saying when's the next one coming I said I don't know don't think it will and I was pressurized so much it just gave in you know I mean that sort of person and the book eventually is there here and just to remind listeners you are in charge of the Presbyterian congregations at Inch and Burt I am at the moment no I'm not now but uh up until what happened was um I retired from Dunfanok and Carygarde and I helped out in a couple of congregations in their home and then the Presbyterian said would you look after Inch uh it'll not be for long and that was 2011 and then Burt came in 2013 and I've been there all that time until just about now so you just you don't want to retire to you well sometimes I do just and then throw in then you work as a chaplain at the hospice and then at the hospital that's right and I've got the list here I'm not going to read it out but I was just using the bag of it to write on and uh I looked at it I thought I'd have to show this to people because they don't realize how hard I have got to work the list it's unbelievable today in the hospital my list the list of Presbyterian lists when I see maybe 20 I'll say well at least I know there are 20 Presbyterians in in tony goal yeah well you would prefer not to be seeing them in the hospital no uh so you have a busy busy schedule and uh if you only just to bring you into the conversation um how difficult has he been to work with he is quite difficult to work with but underneath it all he's he's a nice yes he does get it done you keep cracking the whip out of him he's fine but no they've been they've been great fundraisers absolutely you know because different committees and groups come up with all sorts of ideas to try to raise some money in different ways but you just can't beat having a having a good product whether that's a good draw a ticket or in this case a good book and and when you present it to people or when people are made aware of it it's it's me and all the thoughts in it are all this one especially I think Highland Hope it did bring hope to a lot of people all over lockdown and I mean we were amazed at the sales because it was during lockdown and it's managed to raise 25 000 so I it's been good yeah I don't know why she's up some extent but it just seems to catch on and they they they've spread I mean I know there's books have been sold in Australia and some in Africa and various places around the world as well so they've got out there but but the thing I mean the messages in the book they're as relevant in South Africa and Australia as they are here and maybe that explains why and I think the thing is like they're all it keeps them all short simple and you can read it and you go oh yeah you know you're not going on and on and I think that's the beauty of them all well I'm a simple man well we all have a short attention span anymore so it's great and there's a anybody that's not familiar with the the books there's photographs as well of Dhoni Gaul and you know interspersed throughout and and especially in Highland Hope but one one book has led to another and as you say then you got on you were put under pressure then to come out with third one and it's been a success as well well we're thankful to Highland radio for the supportive giving us on that but there's a story told of a little lady who went into I think the faith mission bookshop in in Derry and she she asked would you have a copy of that book by that Scott we Scotsman and I think the word Highland has you know uh-huh you thought it was Scotland the Highlands but you got the book and actually it was good and I mean did you ever think that you'd have three books out of the stage never thought there'd be one because I'm not I'm not very good at English she say I mean I never was I can speak it but it's a bell in English I speak and then I just find that people you know are reading it even the English because I Robin Morton we call him or or email her because he sends emails to everybody but that's you Robin we're talking about yeah but they're they're good emails they're nice emails oh they are he's been but he was an editor I think the last two books and that was great because when I start writing I don't worry because I have no idea where Phil stops out to go or colons or semi-colons or anything else so I just keep writing and then he gets it punctuation all right he whips him into shape it's great so you can have a stream of consciousness and then Robin will take hold of it and put a bit more structure to it and and and where where do you get the ideas I mean we've filled you've filled three books now so where do the ideas come from just things are right and things have happened to me and so on uh they just come it's like I have a host of stories and jokes and everything inside here somewhere but you tell me ask me would you tell me a joke I can't do it I used to get get ministers phoning me and say I'm going to a wedding would you have a joke for a wedding I can't because it it has to be in a conversation where somebody's told something and then fix something in your own brain and that's how it works but to be asked to tell something isn't that how it works with the best storytellers that you know just something reminds them of something and they go off and they have you heard about and so on so you've got plenty of those sort of stories now I was quite impressed by you on Monday actually uh it made me laugh uh was your comment at the end when you're talking about uh curly oh yeah the curly and uh and david gray and as you said uh was involved and then you say uh one singer helping another yeah I thought of myself singer helping another well one of them would probably in the Eurovision would get about 12 points and I think the other one would get little points the other one would get the 12 points that says it all about the Eurovision uh the other it's um it takes a bit of work to to I mean you know which imprifies the stories obviously and robin does the editing but it's there's more to it than that it's about getting the the books published and then getting them out in the right places and keeping an eye on the return so there's there's work behind it I'd like to thank all our sponsors we they all gave very generously so all the publishing costs were covered so it meant then that all the money from the sales went or goes directly to the hospice for all three books that were yeah they were all covered so um and lots of shops have been very good to us I'm taking the books in and selling away all all over the and they're timeless I mean you know you could you could just as easily get the first book as the third book um they're they're they're all timeless well I see it I see it more something like a some people take it and read it right through I know people have done that but I see it more as a what we call a coffee table book where it's left on a table and you pick it up and you read one and you set it down and that's it but that's what this should be and um and people take them into hospital with them and I know too as well so um you must get good feedback or the feedback has been very good and I'm surprised but I mean I really am surprised um about it but uh it just seems like I suppose I mean like any story that I I would hear clicks with me what is it it's the it's the type of reflections or the type of types of small stories that are in the book that people can relate to all relatable so it's all about it's all about connections I suppose with any any writer you want to make a connection with the potential readers mm-hmm well they say you're joking there it may be very good joke but so just to remind listeners that the Highland Hope is available widely available 10 euro a bookmark here in letter Kenny at the shopping center and different gift shops around the county faith mission outlets in northern Ireland and alexander's and belly buffet that's got gallanty gifts and carry guard macnuts and dinings and macalos and there's a little shop down at the friary too yeah so brilliant so what widely available or if anybody wants to give us a buzz we'll definitely steer them in the right direction if you want to get get your hands on a copy and if anyone would like to help in the selling because we still have quite a few left because of the fact that churches and all were closed at the time the book came out and if anyone from a church or someone would like to take a few and settle in that way we'd be very pleased and just again probably cut you could contact me if you know my number or just through he through here an island then i could get something to them and if you want i can't have been easy because it came out and just you know during the lockdown pretty much and as Jim as you were saying there you know places were closed it was hard just to get to get into outlets or to get places to stop was suppose we were very surprised that it sold so many because every churches were closed shops were closed people weren't going out but people wanted it and they they sought it well the reason that they have sold so well that the doctors have put it in their prescriptions so anybody who suffers from sleep sickness you know or two of those and read Jim's book anyhow just Highland Hope alone has raised to 30 000 and now the latest donation of 5000 which is which is brilliant so well done Jim and Fiona and all the committee and Robin and everybody else that's that's involved it's it's brilliant and the obvious question to finish Jim is uh no number number four when when can we expect number four well if a concert to do first because i'm getting on in years and i always proposed having a retirement because a concert but i still haven't retired so therefore i thought the other day that you know i'm getting on years i should maybe have my retirements concert before i retire in case i'm not around you know in a few years times well especially given that you're never going to retire so um but um that's brilliant so i knew you could write that no idea you could sing as well no we'll look forward to it anyhow the concert and he already tears when when okay it's the third book still available as Highland Hope uh Fiona and Jim Reverend Jim thank you very much for coming in and uh continued success and we have still some of the second book oh okay but the other was the number one sold out right okay brilliant thank you all thanks for having us