Aberdeen’s biggest Kiltwalk set to raise £350,000 for local charities

Aberdeen walkers enjoyed the new 2018 route, with 1,300 of them setting off at 9am from Potarch Green in the 26 mile Mighty Stride, 500 set-out from Crathes for the 14 mile Big Stroll at 11am, and over 450 gathered at noon at Camphill Rudolf Steiner School for the 5 mile Wee Wander.

Once again, Sir Tom Hunter and The Hunter Foundation are adding a massive 40 per cent to everything raised by the walkers. So for every £1 raised, £1.40 goes to the charity they choose.

The Aberdeen Kiltwalk alone is set to raise around £250,000 and the 40 per cent top-up of £100,000 from The Hunter Foundation will take this total to an outstanding £350,000.

Sir Tom said: “Today was very special and I want to thank each and every Kiltwalker who took part and made this our biggest Kiltwalk in Aberdeen to date. There is nothing more inspiring than seeing thousands of walkers in a sea of tartan, encouraging each other to cross the finish line to raise a huge amount of money for the causes they care about.

“I want to thank our volunteer Kilties who are key to the success of the day, ensuring everything runs smoothly and keeping our walkers motivated along the Deeside Way as they headed to Duthie Park.

“The Royal Bank of Scotland Kiltwalk highlights how generous Scots are: so far this year we have seen 14,800 heroes give up their time to go the extra mile to help others, and with two walks still to go we expect this to get even bigger. With £1.7 million already in the bank it’s my absolute pleasure to add 40% to the running total, which at the moment stands at £670,000 making a grand total of £2.4m. Can we make the magic £3m this year? With more walkers I’m sure we can!”

Leading out Aberdeen’s Mighty Stride was 50-year-old Tracy Johnstone from Kingswells, walking for Aberdeen children’s charity Charlie House which she founded following her experience with her youngest son Louis who is severely disabled and requires around-the-clock care. Tracy chose to take on the Kiltwalk this year, amongst a number of other challenges, to mark her 50th birthday and raise money for Charlie House which supports babies, children and young people with complex disabilities and life limiting conditions in North east Scotland.

The Big Stroll was lead-out by Mags McWilliam from Inverurie and her 17-year-old daughter Jade who were walking for the British Heart Foundation. Also leading out the walk was Judith Davis and her five-year-old daughter Hannah from Pitmedden who were walking for CHAS. Hannah was born with a genetic condition known as Pfieffer Syndrome which affects one in every 100,000 children.

The Wee Wander was led out by Tracey Milne and her 10-year-old son Alfie from Peterculter who were walking for Alfie’s Trust. Alfie was diagnosed at 18-months with Lymphangiomatosis, an extremely rare and incurable disease. The family set up the Trust to raise funds for research and patient support to help those suffering from the little-known condition.

Also leading the way for the Wee Wander was 33-year-old Nicola Budge from Orkney who walked for Friends of the Neuro Ward Aberdeen Royal Infirmary who treated her husband before he passed away at age 31 from a brain tumour, giving them an extremely precious extra 18 months together. She was joined by her four children Osmond (12), Janet (8), Edgar (6) and Nathan (3).

Headline sponsor Royal Bank of Scotland really got behind the event, with a number of staff from the North-east taking part in the Kiltwalk or volunteering on the day.

Mark Gall, regional managing director, commercial banking for Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “What an incredible day. We’ve had another fantastic turnout at the Aberdeen Kiltwalk this year, welcoming both returning and new walkers to the streets of the city and ‘shire.

“A huge congratulations goes to every walker, volunteer, supporter and indeed anyone else who was involved in making today so unforgettable.”

All Kiltwalkers were fed, watered and entertained on the route at Pit Stops run by charity partners including CHAS, Team Jak and Alfie’s Trust. Fuelling walkers was fresh fruit and water donated by Tennent’s-owned Tipperary Water and AG Barr’s Strathmore Water, chocolate biscuits from Tunnock’s, shortbread from Walkers and soup from The Scottish Soup Company.

This new route proved to be a huge success with walkers setting out from the stunning Aberdeen countryside, ending up in the Kiltwalk Village in Aberdeen’s City Centre where the Aberdeen Jazz Orchestra got the party started and a hot meal awaited walkers.

Following the event, one lucky Kiltwalker will win a brand new Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 SRi. from Platinum Sponsor Arnold Clark who are gifting a car for each of the four Kiltwalk events in 2018.

Next up is the St Andrews to Dundee Kiltwalk on 19 August and, finally, Edinburgh on 16 September. Each walk has three distances to choose from to suit people of all ages and abilities.

To sign up for the remaining Royal Bank of Scotland Kiltwalks this year, visit www.thekiltwalk.co.uk