AS EWAN McGregor’s biking ordeal from Scotland to Cape Town is played out on our television screens, Kinross man Sam Wightman is planning his own odyssey to Africa.

But while Hollywood star McGregor’s Long Way Down trip is a “boy’s own” adventure, Sam’s 6500-mile scooter voyage to Morocco could raise £100,000 for charity in tribute to his mother, Anne, who lost her fight against stomach cancer in June 1988.

Sam’s “Scoot to Africa” will begin on June 2 next year at Cafe Kisa in Auchterarder—where he heads up the kitchen—and will take him via Paris, Barcelona and Gibraltar into Northern Africa.

His route back is through Madrid, Toulouse and Nantes, arriving back in Kinross 20 days later.

He will be accompanied by three other riders in his two-continent bid to raise the cash for Cancer Research UK.

Sam said yesterday, “I will be 28—the same age mum was when we lost her—on May 29 which is just prior to heading off on our Scoot to Africa.

“Being so young at the time and not fully understanding exactly what was going on with my mother’s illness, it is just now that I’m reaching the age of 28, and feel fit and healthy, I realise she was so young and that there are lots of people in the world who are not as fortunate.

“There are many families who have found themselves in the same situation. Losing any family member is difficult, but losing your mother at such a young age was devastating.

“With this in mind and as a tribute to mum, I have assembled a team of people that share my desire to do their bit to raise vital funds for Cancer Research UK.

“The Scoot to Africa team aim to raise £100,000 for Cancer Research UK, with the hope that we will be helping to prevent other families going through what mine had to.

“We feel strongly that the costs of the trip should not be covered by donations given, so all costs are being fully covered by sponsorship, which means every penny donated will go to fund the vital work of Cancer Research UK.”

Dorothy Rodger, area volunteer manager with Cancer Research UK, said, “It never ceases to amaze us that people will undertake such challenges in aid of Cancer Research UK.

“We are grateful for the Scoot to Africa team for choosing to raise funds for us through sponsorship, special events like an auction night and an entertainment night that they have planned and the raffle of the scooters.”

The money has already started rolling in.

Sam’s father, also Sam, and his wife, Kim, run Le Jardin at Dobbies garden centre in Kinross and collections have already been made at Dobbies’ centres across Scotland.

Donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/scoot-to-africa or by calling 08701 602040.