{"id":543480,"date":"2025-11-02T05:00:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T05:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/543480\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T05:00:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T05:00:27","slug":"glasgow-nightlife-king-donald-macleod-opens-up-on-night-he-forgot-he-bought-a-12k-boat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/543480\/","title":{"rendered":"Glasgow nightlife king Donald MacLeod opens up on night he forgot he bought a \u00a312k boat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The founder of Glasgow\u2019s Cathouse and The Garage recounted he had knocked back a few drinks at a charity auction.Night Club boss Donald MacLeod outside the famous Garage night spot in Glasgow<\/p>\n

Nightlife king Donald Macleod<\/a> has told how he once bought a boat at a charity auction and didn\u2019t remember until it turned up in his driveway.<\/p>\n

The founder of Glasgow\u2019s Cathouse and The Garage nightspots has revealed that he splashed out \u00a312,500 on a Zapcat racing boat at a Scottish music Awards<\/a> (SMAs) fundraiser after he\u2019d knocked back a few drinks.<\/p>\n

Donald<\/a> helped set up the event to raise money for the pioneering music therapy charity Nordoff and Robbins.<\/p>\n

Zapcat Boat racing Anglesey Grand Prix<\/p>\n

And as chairman of the charity\u2019s Scottish Fundraising and Events Committee he has spent decades raising cash to help thousands of people across the country through the power of music.<\/p>\n

And as well as unwittingly buying boats, his charity antics include once trying to flog a top-of-the-range mountain bike with a flat tyre in front of bemused singer Annie Lennox.<\/p>\n

Donald Macleod receiving his MBE – with wife Pauline<\/p>\n

Donald, who was awarded an MBE<\/a> for services to Music and Charity in 2020, is now celebrating 25 years with the group but says helping support sick Scots is his biggest achievement.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cMusic is so incredibly powerful, it can make you feel happy, a song can trigger a good memory and the work the charity does is just vital to so many people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so important that we are able to continue to offer people that power when they need it most.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe charity has a real impact on people\u2019s lives, having visited therapy centres and places like CHAS hospice Rachel House and seeing the great work being done.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd of course there have been some cracking laughs over the years, including the time I bought a boat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI then forget about it until the doorbell went and the delivery guy says, \u2018Where do you want me to put the boat?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018What f****** boat?\u2019 and he said, \u2018That f****** boat over there.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked and there was this Zapcat stunt boat with a big massive engine in the back.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Remember? When you were at the awards, you bought that.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring my auctioneering days, I also remember cycling around the dance floor on a fancy \u00a38000 mountain bike with a flat tyre and Annie Lennox just sitting there looking at me like, \u2018Who is this clown?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the charity\u2019s work is incredibly important, every note counts and I\u2019ll do what it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donald Macleod with Paolo NutiniDonald Macleod with Jim Kerr of Simple Minds<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s GUITARGUITAR Scottish Music Awards ceremony will be held on November 8 at the Barrowland Ballroom.<\/p>\n

Since its inception in 1998, the Awards<\/a> \u2013 originally known as the Tartan Clefs \u2013 have gone on to celebrate the work of an array of talented musicians, artists and bands and raised over \u00a31million.<\/p>\n

Donald said: \u201cOver the years at the awards we\u2019ve had Shirley Manson, Rod Stewart, Simple Minds, GUN, Biffy Clyro and Beluga Lagoon, who blew me away last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also got breakthrough artists and new talent and it\u2019s a great platform to go on stage at the iconic, world-famous Glasgow Barrowlands stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love all the bands for giving us their time but they want to support the charity. Anyone who has been to these sessions, they are marked by it and it stays with them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The founder of Glasgow\u2019s Cathouse and The Garage recounted he had knocked back a few drinks at a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,918,105204,4884,16207,712,134035,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-543480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-glasgow","10":"tag-glasgow-barrowlands","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-rod-stewart","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-the-garage","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115478346368332968","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}