Lindsay’s 50K walk raises nearly 10 times her target
A Kintyre woman who walked 50 kilometres back and forth across Westport beach in memory of her father has achieved almost 10 times her initial fundraising target.
South Kintyre Active Schools co-ordinator Lindsay Ramsay took on the ‘Walk at Westport’ challenge last Saturday to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of her dad, Bob Owen, who died last year.
Setting off on the first leg at 5.45am, she walked from Westport to Machrihanish Burn and back - a distance of about 10 kilometres - five times on what would have been her dad’s 76th birthday weekend.
She hoped to raise £750 but has so far received almost £6,800 through an online fundraising page and donations on the day.
She invited as many people as possible to join her - socially-distanced - for the full walk or as many or few sections as people wanted and was overwhelmed by the number who turned out to support her.
Speaking to the Courier this week, Lindsay said: ‘I had a brilliant day from start to finish. It was amazing to see so many people out supporting me and walking with me from the community.
‘It was great to have a blether with lots of different people along the way and even more special that my twin sister Jennifer and my brother Ross and his family travelled from Paisley to surprise me.’
Lindsay chose to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support, one of the largest British charities which provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer, because of the ‘invaluable’ service it provides in Kintyre.
She said that although her dad’s diagnosis came too late, she knows how crucial the charity’s service is in the area, adding: ‘Unfortunately, so many families are affected by cancer and it was important to me to try and mark my dad’s birthday in a positive way and I hope I did him proud.’
Lindsay completed the challenge within 12 hours and received a rousing welcome across the finish line from young piper Rio Arkell.
She said: ‘I’d like to give a very big shoutout to all the individuals and businesses who helped make this happen and to my friends and family who supported me along the way and convinced me that ‘Walk at Westport’ was worth seeing through. I am so glad I did it.’
Lindsay’s online fundraising page will remain open until this weekend, so there is still time to help her achieve 10 times her target.
Search ‘Lindsay Ramsay Walk at Westport’ on www. justgiving.com to contribute.
All money raised will remain in Kintyre.
‘It was important to me to mark my dad’s birthday...I hope I did him proud’