Lunch at Gleneagles with George Clooney? That’s just the ticket - Susan Dalgety
Have you entered the raffle to win lunch with George Clooney yet? I am still weighing up my chances of winning before buying a ticket, or two.
Given that I have only ever won one raffle prize in my life – a box of chocolates, if my memory serves me right – and I had to put it back, given that I was drawing the raffle, I reckon I haven’t a hope of sharing a starter and main course with the silver fox.
But a girl can dream. I am already planning what I would wear to lunch at Scotland’s top hotel, Gleneagles with the impossibly handsome Mr Clooney. I can feel my credit card screaming at the prospect.
My good friend Alison can remember exactly what she was wearing the day she nearly had lunch with George. It was Monday, July 4 2005.
Two days after a quarter of a million people marched through the city to Make Poverty History and two days before the start of the G8 summit in – where else - Gleneagles which was set to discuss support for Africa.
At the time, we both worked in the Scottish government press office in St Andrew House and had been immersed in the preparations for the summit for weeks.
Alison nipped out for a sandwich just as an anti-G8 march started along Princes Street.
Minutes turned into an hour and there was still no sign of her, and the team started to get a bit anxious as news trickled in of smoke bombs, riot police and shops closing their doors.
After what seemed like a lifetime, a breathless Alison almost fell through the door. “Are you okay?” we asked in unison, fearful at the look of shock on her face. She could barely speak, but gradually, her tale emerged.
As the riot kicked off Alison took shelter in the doorway of Boots on Princes Street. She was not alone. Terrified shoppers joined her to shelter from the mayhem.
She looked round…and there he was. George Clooney. Her hero. Arguably the most handsome man in the world. Standing next to her, outside Boots on Princes Street.
“What did you do?” we shrieked. “I said hello,” she replied. “And he said hello back”. There was a lull in the protest and Alison raced back to the office, scarcely believing who she had just met.
“It was lunch date,” quipped the office wag. “After all you had a meal deal in your bag.”
In 1995, George Clooney was in Edinburgh en route to Perthshire to lobby world leaders such as Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush to alleviate poverty in Africa.
His charm worked. The summit agreed a major package for Africa, including a promise to double aid to the continent by $25 billion per year.
This year he is in Scotland to support homelessness charity Social Bite, which he first visited in 2015 when he popped into its café in Rose Street, and left a $1000 tip.
Proceeds from this year’s raffle will go towards initiative such as Social Bite’s Villages and its Jobs First employment programme.
I hope the lucky winner enjoys their “intimate lunch” with George as much as Alison enjoyed her close encounter.
To enter go to www.itison.com