A Dundee nine-year-old has raised more than £7,000 for charities after completing her 5th Kiltwalk.
Catherine Letford, who was just five-years-old when she started taking part in the Kiltwalks, has raised £7,701 for charities over the past five years.
During her first walk, in which she raised money for Glenlaw House in Dundee, Catherine wanted to take part as it seemed like a fun thing to do.
Mum Dawn-Marie said: “The first one was just initially we’ll take part because it’s a fun thing, lets get our kilts on and have a wee walk.
“But as you walk about and hear stories about other people, what they’re doing and what they’re doing it for, then you realise how important it is to do.
“When she did the first one, it was like she got the buzz – she raised quite a bit of money on the first one, she wanted to do it again.
“It’s just become a yearly thing that she wants to do and raise money for local charities in Dundee.”
Charities
The charities are all Catherine’s choice, with her family guiding her to the different organisations out there.
Dawn-Marie said: “Catherine decides who she wants to raise for. She’ll maybe say I want to help children or I want to help disabled or elderly and we go though them with her and she decides who she wants to choose.
“For her second one, the school she’s at has a hearing impaired unit, so she wanted to do it to benefit the Tayside Deaf Hub, in Dundee, so that could possibly help the pupils in her class.”
Catherine also raised money for Ward 29 at Ninewells hospital and twice for Dundee Bairns.
Despite the strain of the Kiltwalk, Catherine was up for the challenge.
Taking part in dancing and loving to be outside on her bike or scooter, Catherine is already very active.
Her mum added: “Not that we’ve been on holiday, but during lockdown we’ve been walking five miles a day after her school work.
“So she is quite fit. And when we do go on holiday, we do touring holidays, weekends away, we do a lot of walking on that, so she is used to walking.”
Virtual challenge
The past few years of the Kiltwalk have been virtual events due to the pandemic, but Catherine still wanted to take part.
Dawn-Marie said that it was a bit different, and the virtual event lost some of the “buzz” previous events had.
She added: “It’s just not the same. You’re basically on your own – although this time we did meet a lot of people who were doing the same. But the first year we didn’t see anybody.
“It’s not got the same buzz because you’ve got the music at the start, everyone is in a great mood, you’ve got the kilties cheering you on.
“The virtual one, there’s no toilet facilities so you have to be mindful of what you’re drinking. There’s just none of that atmosphere.”
However, Catherine wants to continue taking part in the future, with Dawn-Marie adding: “Once you’ve done one, you do get a buzz and it’s become like a yearly thing now, but we always ask her if she wants to do it.
“So she’s quite happy to do it. And hopefully it’ll soon be back to normal and get back to how it used to be!”