To raise money for the Stornoway RNLI in celebration of the organisation’s 200th anniversary, local volunteers are travelling the distance from Land’s End to John O’Groats over 2024.
For over a year, a small team of volunteers in the Western Isles have been planning a way to mark 200 years of lifesaving work from the RNLI.
And now, they’ve embarked on a challenge that has already raised over £2,000 in less than a month.
They might not be leaving home, but in total 2024 will see each of them journey an epic 841 miles – the distance from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Team members Jane Maciver and Paul Finnegan are going the distance on foot, walking and running respectively.
Donald Smith is cycling the 841 miles, and Malcolm Dalzel-Job is doing a triathlon version of the challenge.
Meanwhile, Colin S. Macleod is braving the Hebridean seas for his year-long swimming regime.
On January 1, the team began the challenge together — with an appropriately Hebridean send-off from a local piper.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever been piped into the sea,” says Colin.
‘I get out and warm up, then get back in again’
Splitting the challenge up into sections means that the team can fit it into their own routine, wherever they are.
Malcolm, who works for the British Army, plans to keep the fundraising going while deployed in Germany, while Jane is getting her steps in while walking her dog before her shifts at the local vet practice.
Colin’s fitting his swims in with his job as a janitor at the local primary school.
On days off, he tries to get in as much distance as possible.
“I do maybe three miles in the morning, then get out and warm up, and then get back in again and do two miles or so.”
The Western Isles’ variable weather means that progress through the waves can be slow.
“What [Donald’s] done in an hour, takes me a weekend!” Colin says.
But he says he’d never give up the sea for a swimming pool, even though it might be “nice and warm”. “It just takes the challenge away, really,” he says.
‘Lots of generous donations’
The team might be going the distance at different paces, but they plan to cross the finish line together later this year.
They’re due ‘reach’ John O’Groats by October, if all goes to plan. “The piper says he’ll pipe us in as well,” says Colin.
Over the course of the year, the team hopes to raise £5,000 for the Stornoway RNLI.
“We know money’s tight, especially at this time of year,” says Colin. But, he says, “We’ve had lots of generous donations already.”
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