Tycoon gives away half £105m fortune

TRAVEL tycoon Marge Moffat cured the heartbreak of losing her husband - by giving away over HALF her £105million fortune.

She set up a charitable trust to spread her wealth around a year after Jim died - when she realised she could never SPEND her riches.

The couple founded the AT Mays travel agency in 1955 and went on to dominate the nation's tourist trade before selling the business to the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1987.

But Jim passed away during a holiday in Barcelona in September 1998.

Heartbroken Marge battled her grief by devoting herself to helping others and set up the Moffat Charitable Trust the following year.

At the time, Marge said she decided to launch the trust after realising how hugely wealthy she was. She said "It's more money than I can spend. I can't even spend the interest. It's good to make use of it."

Since then, her fund has benefited many charities such as Cancer Research and Alcohol Focus Scotland.

Last year, she marked her birthday by transferring £50MILLION in Royal Bank of Scotland shares to the trust. The move allowed trustees to increase its annual bequests from £750,000 to a whopping £3MILLION.

The gesture made her the most generous Scot, according to our sister newspaper The Sunday Times' Giving List 2008. Now the sprightly 85-year-old is a serious contender for our Bighearted Scot of the Year gong.

She was nominated by reader Clare Lappin, who told us: "She's such an impressive human being. I'm completely and utterly in awe of her."

Clare, who works for Alcohol Focus Scotland, said the charity has benefited incredibly from Marge's help. The mum of one, of Newton Mearns, Renfrewshire, added: "Marge has such a fantastic story - she is a living saint."

We will pay tribute to Scotland's unsung heroes at a glitzy awards ceremony next month.

Our winners will be honoured at Glasgow's Marriott Hotel on September 5.

And you could be there to join us. Tickets for the bash are £95 or £950 for a table of ten. Book yours by calling 0141 639 0708 now.

The categories are Fundraiser of the Year, sponsored by Relationship Marketing; Sportsperson of the Year, sponsored by Setanta; Child of the Year, sponsored by First Group; Businessperson of the Year sponsored by Action Coach; Entertainer of the Year, sponsored by Smooth Radio; Bighearted Scot, Hero of the Year and special achievement, sponsored by Chivas Brothers.

The seven Bighearted Scotland charities are Epilepsy Scotland, Alcohol Focus Scotland, CLIC Sargent, Momentum, Penumbra, Native Woods and Sense Scotland.

NEVER mind Moulin Rouge, Ewan McGregor has been raking in the MOOLAH for charity.

And he's certainly no Rogue Trader when it comes to helping good causes such as CLIC Sargent, the Children's Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS) and Unicef.

The 37-year-old - who played Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars - started raising cash for CHAS in May 1998 after learning about its hospices for terminally-ill kids.

And in February 2002, the star took to the Highland skies in an RAF Tornado raising £4,000 for Rachel House, the children's hospice in Kinross, Perthshire.

In 2004, the Trainspotting star became an ambassador for Unicef.

He motorcycled around the world with best friend Charley Boorman in 2004 for TV show The Long Way round, raising an incredible £285,000 for Unicef along the way.

The following year he launched the C8 children's summit as part of the make Poverty History campaign, ahead of the G8 meeting of world leaders in Gleneagles. Ewan, from Crieff, Perthshire, also hosts an annual Burns Supper - and in 2007 the star-studded bash raised a whopping £180,000 for CHAS and Clic Sargent.

Now he has been nominated for our Entertainer of the Year gong.

CHAS spokeswoman Kerry Jackson said: "Ewan has very kindly visited our hospices many times over the years and always takes the time to talk to children, families and staff.

"He deserves to be nominated for all his good work, which is much appreciated."

MIRACLE mum Suzanne Fernando defied the odds to beat cervical cancer after a tumour grew inside her - at the same time as her unborn baby.

The protective mother refused to get help for the disease to avoid harming the tot.

But Suzanne's selfless action almost cost her life and she nearly DIED before holding Aaron in her arms.

Now after several operations and gruelling chemotherapy and radiotherapy, she is writing a book to help others fight the cruel illness.

Suzanne, 36, said: "It's like a diary - a log of my experiences from the moment I was diagnosed.

"There were moments when I thought I'd never recover, but I'm still here to tell the tale."

The former private eye from Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, felt sure something was wrong during pregnancy.

She said: "I was terrified they'd make me get rid of my baby so I kept quiet, which was wrong really."

When she was eight months gone, doctors found a tumour the size of a tennis ball.

She said: "I had a clear smear test days before I fell pregnant but my hormones went into overdrive and accelerated the cancerous growth." Suzanne was taken for a Caesarean, but haemorrhaged and lapsed into a coma. Her distraught husband Kes, 37, was told to expect the worst.

Now, almost eight years on, she is in remission - and she said: "I shouldn't be here. I'm so lucky."

Suzanne addresses meetings on cervical cancer, runs the Race For Life and helps raise awareness. And proud daughter Jordan, 11, Aaron, and computing manager Kes have nominated her for Bighearted Scot of the Year.

Little Aaron said: Mummy's so brave."