THE CHILDRENS Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS) is set to benefit from some of the proceeds of a book written by a well-known doctor.

Krishna Goel’s book Some Great Scots was written partly out of his passion for sharing knowledge and partly to raise funds for the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS), of which he’s a founding director.

And that means locally, the likes of Robin House in Balloch, an offshoot of CHAS, will receive much needed funds to help them continue their vital work in West Dunbartonshire.

The book also reflects Krishna's love for the country which he’s called home since he flew from his birthplace in India to the old Abbotsinch Airport more than half a century ago.

Helensburgh-based Dr Goel, who spent almost 40 years working at the old Yorkhill Hospital as a consultant paediatrician and describes himself as a “naturalised Scot”, has now completed three books since retiring from medicine 10 years ago.

“I believe strongly that if we have knowledge we should share it with others in all corners of the globe,” he told the Reporter. “And Scotland has such great talent.

“I asked people across the social backgrounds to name 10 great or famous Scots and they couldn’t give me a double digit figure. But Scottish people are very passionate.

“A schoolteacher told me once that schools don’t teach about famous or talented Scots.

But how can you put pride in the hearts of our children if they don’t know their Scottish heritage?”

Some Great Scots features not one but two forewords – one from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and the other by Sir Kenneth Calman, who was Scotland’s chief medical officer for two years and then held the same post for England and Wales for a further six.

The book is divided into six sections and lists the achievement of an eclectic choice of more than 400 notable Scots, from politicians to poets and from inventors to sportspeople.

So how did Dr Goel decide which Scots made it in to the book and which didn’t?

“There’s no easy answer to that,” he replied. “I decided on people who have contributed, big or little, in some way to Scotland and the world.

“I’ve chronicled some of Scotland’s very, very rich heritage and I’m quite pleased with it.

“But this is not a scholarly study of great Scots. I wanted something handy that people could flick through or put in their handbag and if I included more people in it, it might have become too heavy.

“But people have already written to me and said: ‘You’ve left out so-and-so’, so perhaps there might be another volume one day.”

Sections of the book are devoted to some of Scotland’s greatest artists, the little-known lives of six Scottish women who served in Serbia during the First World War, and 13 of Scotland’s great plant hunters.

That last section reflects Dr Goel’s own enthusiasm for plants and horticulture – a subject covered in one of his previous books, published in 2015 and describing the medicinal properties of the 120 plants listed in the Bible.

Two of Dr Goel’s greatest passions are Scotland and children.

“My loyalties lie with Scotland,” he said. “My heart is here.

“I came here with nothing in my pocket and Scotland gave me everything. We fly over so many different countries but underneath us the Earth is all the same and all of us are exactly the same under the skin.”

Launching on Burns Night the book will be available to buy online via the CHAS website, at the CHAS retail shops in Kinross and Dulloch and at Blackwell’s in Edinburgh for a limited time only, Some Great Scots costs £10, and all proceeds go directly to CHAS.