Jim Fairlie is getting ready to take on a fundraising trip of a lifetime in memory of his brother, the renowned chef Andrew Fairlie.
Scotland’s only two-Michelin star chef died from a brain tumour on January 22 2019 at the age of just 55.
On top of taking the culinary world by storm, Perth-born Andrew Fairlie also travelled the world and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in 2011.
Now his brother, the MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, is looking to recreate his footsteps by scaling the same peak to raise £100,000 in Andrew’s memory.
‘He packed so much into not enough years’
Jim spent Andrew’s final days by his side, often reminiscing about the times the pair had spent together.
And Jim knew he wanted to climb the world’s highest free-standing mountain on the day his brother died.
He said: “Andy said it was absolutely, without a doubt, the hardest thing he has ever done and he would never do it again.
“But he also said it was absolutely brilliant.
“When he was in Cornhill hospice in Perth I would spend the evenings talking with him about the things he had done in his life.
“What he had achieved was huge, he had packed so much into not enough years.”
He said his brother had “gone too soon” after a life dedicated to his passion for food and his family.
Jim added: “He said he had no regrets, I think that is pretty awesome.”
Andrew left Perth for London at the age of 17 and won the very first Roux scholarship.
He went on to train under some of the best chefs in France and opened Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles in 2001.
In 2006 his restaurant became the only place in Scotland to be awarded two Michelin stars and he went onto cook for The Queen and world leaders at the G8 summit in 2005 – something he and his farmer brother Jim often worked on together.
In admiration, Jim said: “His passion and skill took him all over the world.”
Trip rearranged after Covid hit
Initially a group of 14 of Andrew’s friends, family and colleagues were due to go to Kilimanjaro in October 2020, but the epic trip had to be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It was pushed back again after Jim was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2021.
The trip has now been rearranged and on October 7 a group of 22 will leave for Tanzania to climb the mountain.
Jim started training for the mammoth expedition during the coronavirus lockdown. His first Munro was Ben Vorlich.
He said: “The wind was blowing a gale and I thought I wasn’t going to manage the last 250 metres.
“I needed to do some serious training but now I am as fit as I am going to be.
“It is now about getting there and doing it.”
Reaching peak will be ’emotional moment’
Jim said he is “very excited and very nervous” about the challenge, but said he will be thinking of his brother while he does the climb.
He has a photograph of his brother Andrew touching the board at the peak of Kilimanjaro, and he said he is determined to be able to stand where his brother stood 11 years ago.
Jim said he doesn’t know how he will feel when he reaches the top, but he imagines it will be “an emotional moment”.
But getting to the top will not be easy – one of Jim’s biggest concerns is altitude sickness.
He said: “If that gets you, there is nothing you can do.
“We need to make sure we climb higher than we sleep so once we have set up camp each night, we have to climb a further two hours and then come back down to avoid altitude sickness.”
And to put the almost 5,900 metre climb into perspective, the last leg alone is the equivalent of climbing Ben Nevis.
Aim to raise £100,000
In total the group is aiming to raise £100,000, which will be split evenly between Cornhill Macmillan Centre in Perth where Andrew spent his last few days, and the scholarship that has been set up as his lasting legacy.
Jim described the staff at Cornhill hospice as “mind-blowing”.
He said: “No matter the time of the night or day, they treated Andy and us with respect and dignity.
“They were brilliant, and they gave Andy everything he needed.”
He would like to see the money they raise spent on offering patients and their families a space where they can spend time together, like a kitchen or a garden.
Jim said: “It would be nice to make a place for people to get together and create memories in Andy’s memory.”
The Andrew Fairlie Scholarship also puts aspiring chefs who show the “dedication, commitment and hard work” of Andrew through their paces and turns them into the future stars of the culinary world.
Brother Jim said the scholarship in Andrew’s name is a source of great pride as his lasting legacy as a world-class chef.
The group leave on October 7 and after some initial training the climb is expected to take eight days in total and they are raising money through JustGiving.
