We are delighted to announce that we raised over £50,000 from this year's Glasgow Kiltwalk thanks to the support of our dedicated and incredible Hospice Heroes.

Sunday 24th April saw over 10,000 people taking part in the event and we are delighted to confirm that a team of 111 Hospice Heroes participated.

With walkers from all across Scotland taking on either The Mighty Stride (22.7miles) or The Big Stroll (14.5miles) in aid of the Hospice, it was a truly amazing day. The sun shone on everyone who crossed the finish line at Balloch to get that all important medal and to be greeted by Hospice staff, family and friends.

Elaine Thomson, Senior Fundraising Officer, said:

With individual walkers as well as teams like Walkaholics, Motiv8 Fitness, Del's Belles, Team Aldi Prestwick, Gail's Gallivanters, Team McLaughlin, Chaz & Mum, Just Dae It, MacKinnon Clan, Team Symington and the Microtech Group we are so pleased to announce that these Hospice Heroes have raised a phenomenal £50,801.80 for the Ayrshire Hospice. This includes the 50% top up given by Sir Tom hunter and The Hunter Foundation - thank you so much!

Many of the walkers took part in memory of someone that received hospice care. One such person was avid Ayrshire Hospice fundraiser Charlie, who aged 10, completed The Big Stroll alongside his mum in memory of both of his great granddads. Charlie has taken part in his own fundraising activities previously as well as volunteering at a variety of Hospice events and wanted to try out something more challenging to raise even more funds for his chosen cause.

'Team McLaughlin' took on The Mighty Stride in memory of John McLaughlin who sadly passed away in February 2020. The McLaughlin family started to fundraise in February 2020 and have raised over £10,000 to date - an incredible achievement!

'Team Del's Belles', led by Lesley Grayston from Irvine, walked in memory of Lesley's brother Derek and raised £6,143.89 in the process. Derek spent the last 9 weeks of his life in the Hospice In-Patient Unit.

John Burke from Kilwinning completed The Mighty Stride with friends who all walked for various charities in memory of his wife Jennifer. John stated that he "wanted to be able to give something back to the Hospice for the fantastic work they do."

'Team Aldi' from the Prestwick store, led by employee Amanda McGill. Amanda's mum, Anne McGill, would have been celebrating her 60th birthday this year and Amanda wanted to do something in her mum's memory as she had received hospice care. The team then grew to 15 strong with others walking for their own reasons; such as Callum Glass, whose Uncle Billy has received care at home and also Clare Hamilton, whose Gran, Mili Alexander, had received care in our In-Patient Unit. The store and community rallied round the group, supporting in-store collections as well as donating to see the team raise an incredible £11,246.91 overall.

Another 3 Hospice Heroes were Gail Donaldson, Catherine Anne Grant and Samantha Thomas - better known as 'Team Walkaholics' and were the first of the Ayrshire Hospice Heroes to cross the finish line! The trio walked in memory of Gail's husband Brian who passed away in September 2021.

 

Everyone at the Hospice extends grateful thanks to every Hospice Hero that took part and the everyone who supported them. The incredible amount raised will help the hospice continue to provide exceptional care and services for all patients and their families across Ayrshire & Arran.

 

The Glasgow Kiltwalk returns on Sunday 30th April 2023 and we are looking forward to getting the #HospiceHero team back together - along with all new recruits! If you are interested in taking part, contact [email protected] for more information.