WITH the passing of Bill Haining on May 30, Beith lost one of its best known citizens of recent years; the Garnock Valley lost a quite formidable and caring organiser and fundraiser for Ayrshire Cancer Support Group; and his dear wife Moira lost a loving husband who was invariably by her side at all times and proved to be his ‘right hand man’ in his exceptional volunteering work.

Born on April 19 1934, at Giffen Station, Barrmill, where his father Willie was stationmaster, Bill Haining made a nostalgic return visit 70 years later: “I found large trees and overgrown bushes on the three platforms where I happily played as a wee boy. The permanent way had been reclaimed by mother-nature, and you had to look closely to see the rusted rails through the bushes and weeds.

“I got the strangest nostalgic feeling as I looked where our family home once stood. My father took a great pride in that little railway station.”

The last train passed over the Barrmill branch line into the Royal Navy Munitions Depot about 1994.

Bill was baptised in Beith High Church by Rev John Murray Woodburn, a legendary pastor in Beith from 1919-1961.

“I came to know the respected Mr Woodburn very well in later years - a simply wonderful man of God, fondly remembered by many older Beith folk,” he would later recall. After the family left Giffen his father took up various posts on the G & SW Railway in Dumfriesshire and Ayrshire, returning to the Garnock Valley with yet another railway posting, this time to Kilbirnie Station in 1947. Bill would remain in Beith for the rest of his life, and for almost 30 years made a remarkable and totally selfless contribution to serving people who had cancer.

The next big event in Bill’s life came when he married Moira Anderson in 1959 – not the famous singer – but a lovely nurse and midwife who hailed originally from Falkirk.

He always proudly boasted that meeting her was the luckiest day of his life. This popular couple always enjoyed chatting to locals on regular strolls through Beith. In fact, on one occasion, their grand-daughter, Kirsty, who lived in Newcastle, asked her mother why her grandfather talked to absolutely everyone in Beith.

It was explained to her that was quite simply an everyday occurrence for this ‘weel-kent’ chatty local man in a friendly town which Bill fondly called ‘the little town with the big heart.’

Bill left school age 14 in April 1948. In fact, he was one of the very last able to do so before the leaving age was then raised to 15. He was never academic and was really pleased to get his freedom, but what he did learn was that a strong work ethic was what would help him succeed in life.

Billy immediately gained employment as a trainee hairdresser at Storey’s Hairdressing Salon in Eglinton Street. Never in a million years did he think he would go on to establish and run Billy’s of Beith, the longest running single generation business in the town.

His business career began on March 25 1953. He recently recalled: “After training in hairdressing and attending day release one day a week and two evenings at Glasgow’s Stow College, I took the plunge and set up my own ladies hairdressing salon in Head Street. Older ladies will remember it well.

“Beith at that time was thriving. The town could boast at least 103 shops that I recall and seven cabinet works; quite dramatic changes over the years.”

In an interview, years later, he happily remembered the wages and costs of those early years: “Ladies and gents trim was 1/-; shampoo and set 3/- and a perm wave was a hefty £1-2-6d. My very first wage was 10/- and from that 2/10d was deducted for national insurance and tax and I was left with just over 7/- for working in a shop five days a week. It was really hard going.”

After operating his business from five different premises over many years, he finally settled in the town’s Wilson Street, in a jewellery gift shop which is still successfully run by daughter, Lorna. Working as a team, Bill and Moira built a great reputation for ‘Billy’s of Beith,’ delivering a thriving business and from then on, they were rarely ever apart. It wasn’t long before they had a family with two lovely daughters, Shona and Lorna. They, too, were soon helping their parents, coming into the shop after school to help out.

Daughter Lorna has managed the business, now in its 62nd year, for the past eight years. Bill and Moira became totally immersed in a charity which would take them on a long journey of caring for others.

Moira said: “In Beith’s Trinity Church some 28 years ago a letter was read out inviting everyone to a meeting in Dalry to help Ayrshire Cancer Support Group expand their services to the Garnock Valley. Bill decided to go along because he knew many families touched by cancer, and wanted to find out how he could help.”

In fact Bill was the only person from Beith to attend that particular meeting. It touched a chord of caring and resulted in him embarking on a journey for the rest of his life to provide the Garnock Valley with a top-drawer voluntary service for cancer patients.

Over the years over 600 individual patients, many receiving help, several for several years, and grateful families have benefited from a life-saving voluntary hospital transport service.

At the same time, Bill and his supporters have raised a whopping £500,000 to support Ayrshire Cancer Support Group charity – a quite remarkable achievement. That meeting in Dalry was really life-changing for Bill. It graphically highlighted the extent of cancer in the Garnock Valley area and the problems experienced by ill patients with the additional stress and worry about family finances.

He appreciated that simply getting from the Garnock Valley area to hospitals in Glasgow and Ayrshire for treatment whilst ill with cancer was a major challenge for folk.

It struck a chord which the indefatigable Beithite was able to meet. Bill left that meeting determined to do something positive for Garnock Valley cancer patients.

He was recently asked if he got despondent about the level and extent of cancer which seems to be so prevalent. “No, I really don’t,” he said with a shrug, “Sadly, the general public only tend to hear about those who lose the fight. I don’t think we do enough to tell about the many good news stories out there because year on year there are so many survivors.”

He continued enthusiastically: “I have many patients who regularly give donations in grateful thanks for the service provided by the Beith branch many years ago. They remember and think of others now suffering because they have made that same difficult journey. There are success stories to tell, but I think there needs to be more of an upbeat message to encourage patients. Many do recover and go on to lead very long and full lives.”

Bill and Moira spent a lot of time on their voluntary service which could be very demanding. Inevitably the phone would ring regularly with patient requests; those wishing to donate, or Kilmarnock HQ on about patient transport issues, or someone looking to borrow an electric chair or wheelchair. He said: “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that we would be doing this job for 28 years and in the process raise a half of a million pounds.

This is quite amazing, and very satisfying. And it all came about because I attended a meeting in Dalry all those years ago.” The work of Ayrshire Cancer Support Group covers the whole of Ayrshire with only 17p in every £1 used for administration purposes. Conversely, Bill and Moira were proud that the local Beith Group has absolutely no administration costs; all funds raised going directly towards patient transport and home appliances.

Bill and Moira were always fulsome in their praise of the caring volunteer drivers who do such a great job in taking patients to and from hospitals for treatment and being friends on the move: “Without the drivers and despite the money raised as a group locally, the service couldn’t be provided without or giants of volunteering – our drivers. They are the real lynch-pin.”

Bill and Moira Haining are a shining example of what selfless volunteering can achieve. Bill Haining knew how awful that cancer journey could be, yet by stretching out a caring hand in friendship and providing practical help and support, this led from one of isolation and loneliness to one of hope.

Talking to locals since Bill’s passing I’ve been intrigued to note some of the endearing adjectives that are triggered by his name in conversation – caring, genuine, loyal, helpful, friendly, reliable, welcoming, and so on. I’m sure each of us could, from our own personal experiences, comfortably add to that list. He was quite simply a good man of whom no one had a bad word to say.

Bill is survived by wife, Moira, daughters Shona and her husband, Chris, daughter Lorna and her husband, Willie and granddaughters Kirsty and Katrina. Bill passed away at home after a short illness on May 30. The large number of personal tributes paid to him on Facebook and other social media highlight the high esteem in which he was held.

The Garnock Valley community will be feeling the loss of a remarkable man who has left a quite wonderful legacy of organisational competence, inspirational fundraising and team building and leadership skills in providing an essential service.

Put simply, he embarked on a moving quest to help cancer patients in need and in doing so brought a warm ray of sunshine into so many lives where cancer had initially brought blight, darkness and gloom. Truly a wonderful legacy