Of 200 Oor Wullies

Fantastic Five blitz Big Bucket Trail to raise cash

A GROUP of footballers managed to visit all 200 Oor Wullie statues in just 60 hours at the weekend to raise £1,500 for charity.

The five participants – who all play for Sunday League side Club Ivory – travelled almost 1,000 miles across the l ength and breadth of the country to visit every statue on Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail.

Dubbing themselves the Fantastic Five, Kane Campbell, Stuart Davidson, Darren Thomson, Stewart Coole and Aidyn Murphy announced plans back in June to embark on the challenge under the banner of “Toor Wullie”.

And as they completed their mammoth challenge, at around 5.30pm last night, it also emerged they had almost hit their target of raising £1,500.

Kane said the five – who were equipped with a map and the bucket trail phone app – had been “sceptical” they could cross the finishing line inside their target time.

“When we finished it was a mixture of relief and delight,” he said.

“We’ve worked out we travelled about 1,000 miles in total by the time we got back to Dundee.

“The final Oor Wullie was the Oor People in Merchant City in Glasgow.”

The tour started in St Andrews on Friday morning before the group headed back to the City of Discovery.

By the afternoon they had managed to get ahead of schedule as they arrived in Aberdeen.

Kane added: “Although we’d been sceptical while planning it out in the weeks before, we were a few hours ahead.

“The only thing that let us down slightly was our inability to read maps.”

Group members kept their followers updated on their progress via their social media account, which helped boost donations.

Kane added: “We set up a page so people could keep track of progress.

“We provided updates, along with a Just Giving page, so that people could donate to the Archie Foundation.

“As we gave the updates we received further donations from people watching our progress.”

Kane said the connection between the Bucket Trail and Archie had inspired them to raise the funds.

He added: “The Archie Foundation does great work with kids across the country, especially at Ninewells Hospital.

“So that was one of the reasons behind Toor Wullie.”

He also thanked those who provided accommodation for the group during the challenge.

He added: “On Friday night we slept at our pal’s house i n Inverness and on the Saturday we stayed at my dad’s i n Cambuslang.

“We managed to complete the Goliath task at around 5.30pm last night.

“Although the Wullies weren’t hard to find, the most difficult ones to get to were those in North Berwick and Stranraer.”

Since announcing the end of the challenge, messages of goodwill and support have flooded in on social media.

Kane added: “We want to thank everyone who has donated so far.”

Anyone wanting to donate to the cause still has time by searching for Stuart’s Toor Wullie or visiting justgiving.com/fund raising/toorwullie.

Meanwhile, the bucket trail also brought a smile to the faces of patients at the Centre for Child Health on Dudhope Terrace, when mini statues were displayed in the reception area for the week.