Mankini magic bags funds for charity

Mount keen: Fundraisers are pretty in pink as they take part in Munro challenge

Keen hillwalkers bagged more than they bargained for when they ventured up Mount Keen in the Angus mountains.

A team of intrepid gamekeepers arranged a celebration with a difference when they got to the summit of the most easterly Munro, donning pink mankinis to mark their achievement.

The group of men, more than half of them gamekeepers with the Angus Glens Moorland Group, stepped out of their comfort zone to raise funds for Cancer Research UK, and the ‘rural taskforce’ joined others in the community to undertake a gruelling four-hour round trip to the 3081ft summit of Mount Keen, which is a magnet for walkers, mountain bikers and sightseers.

A Just Giving page has been set up by Samantha Annand and her sister Vikki Smart, who lost both parents to the disease.

The group have smashed through their £500 target and, to date, have raised over £2,000 with their ‘alternative’ charity walk.

On the page Sam said: “It’s time for the boys to dust off their walking boots, and more importantly, their hot pink mankinis in support of Cancer Research UK. “It’s been 10 years since we lost mum. “It doesn’t get any easier and unfortunately, in the following years, many of our friends have been affected too.

“Thanks to a great bunch of guys, we’re all doing our bit to try and raise more money again this year.”

This is the third ‘mankini’ walk Sam and her sister, Vicki Smart, have organised.

She continued: “We lost mum to breast cancer. My humour and Vicki’s humour combined and somehow we suggested to some of our male friends to put on a hot pink mankini, and they were well up for it.

“We have pushed them well out of their comfort zones.”

Sam and Vicki have also stepped up to raise funds for Cancer Research UK, completing two Edinburgh Moonwalks.

Altogether their efforts have raised in excess of £20,000.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can visit the Just Giving page at

https://www.justgiving.com/ fund raising/ sam vicki-keen for mount keen

The hillwalkers have only their mankinis to protect their modesty at the top of Mount Keen.