Friends step up to the challenge of staying connected and raising funds

GETTING out for a daily walk has been an important part of lockdown life, enabling us to take time away from our screens and enjoy the fresh air.

And it has become much more than that for three Angus women – who have caught the walking bug, strengthened their friendship and did their bit for others along the way.

Shirley Inglis, Pamela Manley and Karen Stormont, from Carnoustie, undertook the 300,000 Steps Facebook Challenge set by cancer charity Maggie’s in order to maintain a social connection through lockdown and raise some money for charity at the same time.

Karen said: “We’re part of a group of friends, but because of lockdown we can’t all get together. Cancer is something that affects many families in some form or other, so we just decided that we wanted to do something to help that was worthwhile.”

Taking it in turns to walk socially distanced in pairs, to comply with restrictions, the women originally aimed to walk 10,000 steps a day, going the extra mile at the weekends to keep up momentum.

Karen said: “We were really lucky with the weather, so we actually ended up walking more than that every day.

“When we passed the 300,000 steps mark, we started to think about how many we could actually do in the month.

“We just kept going.” In total, the three women walked 1,327,003 steps around the community, taking advantage of the local routes including East Haven and Barry Mill.

“We were really pleased because we just didn’t have any idea we’d end up doing that many steps. We just set out to do the 300,000 so we were really chuffed with the final number.”

Having undertaken various fitness challenges, including the Race for Life, in different groups before, the Maggie’s challenge marks the first time that Karen, Shirley and Pamela have laced up their trainers to get active together.

Karen said: “If it hadn’t been for the restrictions we would have walked as a group, but we had to make do taking it in turns to walk in pairs.

“We all encouraged each other. If one of us wasn’t feeling like walking, we still always made sure that we went out. It helped sending each other encouraging messages on Facebook.”

Overall, the team has raised more than £500 for Maggie’s, which will go towards support for cancer patients and their loved ones.