The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Teacher to lift Dinnie Stones in honour of his gran
A north-east teacher is taking on a legendary weightlifting challenge in honour of his grandmother.
Social subjects teacher at Fraserburgh Academy, Andy Crawford, is training to lift the Dinnie Stones in memory of Maureen Baldwin, who died of cancer last year.
Mr Crawford hopes to “raise as much as possible” to split the donations between Cancer Research UK and buying new sports equipment for the school.
The 31-year-old will be lifting the stones, which have a combined weight of 332.49kg (733lb), for five seconds on May 2.
The two granite boulders were named in honour of historic strongman Donald Dinnie, who is said to have carried them both across the 17ft width of Potarch Bridge in 1860.
Mr Crawford said: “I got into power lifting on my own four years ago and, after finding out about the Dinnie Stones, I got in touch with someone to make replicas.”
The teacher described his grandmother as “one of the most loving, caring, selfless people you could ever meet”.
He added: “Helping cancer research is something that would have made her so happy.
“Her family was the most important thing in her life and she was always kind to all family, and friends, no matter how ill she was.”
As well as his family, Mr Crawford has the support of his pupils who were “pretty shocked” when they first found out he’d be lifting the Dinnie Stones.
He said: “They have been very interested in the history of the stones and some have been looking them up.
“They are regularly asking about my training and have been very supportive so far.”
To support Mr Crawford’s fundraising challenge, donations can be made to gofundme. com/f/dinnie-stones-lift333kg733lbs524-stone