Exclusive Car & Aircraft Show - Balado Airfield - Sunday 24th May 2026
The club was privileged to be invited to the inaugural Exclusive Car & Aircraft Show which was held at Balado Airfield on Sunday 24th May 2026.
Held in aid of the Children's Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) charity, the event was one of a series of fund-raising events planned over the next 18 months and was a private / invitation only car show and aircraft fly-in. As well as a static car display featuring both classics and supercars, there was a Gymkhana, tractor rides, a digger challenge, passenger car rides as well as aeroplane rides with all entry fees and associated activity proceeds going directly to this worthwhile charity.
For those of you who do not know the background of CHAS, the charity was founded in Scotland in 1992 by parents and professionals to provide palliative care for children with life-shortening conditions. It opened Scotland's first children's hospice, Rachel House in Kinross in 1996, followed by Robin House in Balloch in 2005, and operates the CHAS at Home service. The club regularly supports CHAS and they have attended many of our events in order to raise much needed funds.
As mentioned above, Rachel House in Kinross was the first children’s hospice operated by CHAS. After 30 years, it is in need of major refurbishment to provide current standards of care for the children and improve the standard of support for parents and families.
Planning permission has been granted with work on the £17.5m rebuild planned to commence in summer 2026. The Rotary Club of Kinross in partnership with CHAS have combined with the Rotary Club of Durham to raise funds to equip out the new sensory room, which will be the only round room in the refurbished Rachel House. If funds permit, additional sensory equipment will be installed throughout the building.
This event at Balado on the 24th May was organised by the Rotary Club of Kinross and District in conjunction with the owners of the fabulous Balado airfield – former home of T In The Park. Balado airfield dates back to WW2 when it was used to train Hurricane and Spitfire pilots. The airfield has, over recent years, had massive investment and is now a large site with modern hangars and is beautifully maintained making it a perfect backdrop for this fantastic event.
6 cars / 12 club members made the trip to Balado and given that it was approximately 100 miles from Aberdeen we had an early start, meeting at the now traditional Stonehaven Swimming Pool car park at 07:30! We set off in convoy on a leisurely run and timed it perfectly, arriving at the Glendoick Garden Centre for a much-needed bacon roll and coffee (and comfort break...) just as they opened the doors at 09:00! All that was left was a short 20 mile run from Glendoick to Balado in bright sunshine and we arrived in good time to be parked up. There was plenty to see and do with some fabulous cars on display and many exciting activities; one of our group even signed up for one of the aeroplane rides – hopefully pictures of his adventure will be added to the gallery below shortly!
We all had a brilliant day so many thanks to all involved in the faultless organisation of the event and congratulations on raising a sizeable sum for this very worthwhile charity. Special thanks to Royston Goodman for the invite and to members of Driving Scotland including Mark Ryan and John Young, as well as all the Rotary members for all their hard work – including keeping us fed and watered throughout the day.
Hopefully this will become an annual fixture – we would certainly support it again.
Finally, if you are able, please consider donating to the charity by sending a donation, no matter how small, to the following using your name and AMGOC as the reference.
Account name: Rotary Club of Kinross Charitable Trust
Account number: 10065462
Sort Code: 80-16-79.
