Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

New health initiative to be brought to Lonach Highland Gathering and Games

The march of the Lonach Highlanders, at last year's event.
The march of the Lonach Highlanders, at last year's event.

North-east children are being encouraged to stay active by walking a mile in front of thousands of people at an iconic gathering in Aberdeenshire.

The Lonach Highland and Friendly Society has teamed up with the founders of a ground-breaking health initiative to bring a new event to this year’s Lonach Highland Gathering and Games.

Organisers of the annual Aberdeenshire spectacle have joined forces with The Daily Mile to hold an event for primary age schoolchildren at this August’s gathering.

It is being arranged in conjunction with Active Schools Aberdeenshire and aims to give children attending the day-long celebration of Scottish heritage an opportunity to clock up their daily mile in front of an audience of thousands.

To add a sense of occasion to proceedings, they will be led into the arena by a local pipe band.

This year’s Lonach Highland Gathering and Games takes place on Saturday, August 25 in the village of Bellabeg, with the Daily Lonach Mile scheduled to start at 12.30pm.

It is open to all children of primary school age on that date and is free to enter.

The Daily Mile is an initiative that was established in 2012 by Elaine Wyllie while she was the head teacher at St Ninian’s Primary School in Stirling as a way to improve the fitness of pupils.

In addition, the programme helps to increase their concentration levels, in turn benefitting their schoolwork.

The scheme is now part of the daily curriculum in over 4,400 schools across the UK and has been placed at the centre of the UK government’s strategy to fight childhood obesity.

Jennifer Stewart, secretary and chief executive of the Lonach Highland and Friendly Society, said: “The Daily Mile has been a huge hit throughout the country and we are excited to bring it to this year’s Lonach Highland Gathering and Games, particularly in the Year of Young People.

“What better surroundings in which to do a Daily Mile than amidst Strathdon’s stunning scenery and with a crowd of thousands cheering everyone on.”

In order to give organisers an indication of the number of children expected to take part in The Daily Lonach Mile, parents and guardians are being asked to pre-register by e-mailing dailylonachmile@yahoo.com.