Astonishing turnaround for once ailing charity

Organisers of the Kiltwalk have revealed that every penny of the £400,000 raised from its first walk this year has gone to its chosen charities.

Following Aberdeen's Kiltwalk on 5 June that total will top £500,000 by the end of this month.

Thousands of people donned their tartan at the Glasgow event last month trekking 26 miles and raising much needed cash for vital children's charities.

Kiltwalk backer Sir Tom Hunter said: “When we launched Kiltwalk late last year, with the financial support from the Hunter Foundation, Royal Bank of Scotland, Arnold Clark and the STV Children’s Appeal we guaranteed that 100% of the money raised by participants would go straight to children’s charities in Scotland - and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

Last year Kiltwalk’s founder Carey McEvoy and the entire board resigned after it was revealed over half the cash it had raised went on salaries and administration costs.

Tom Hunter then stepped in and took over the running of the charity, paying all salary and admin costs out his own pocket.

He added: “We were determined that the money should be handed over as quickly as possible and we hope it will make a fantastic difference to the lives of children here in Scotland.

Kiltwalkers should be rightly proud of the difference they are making

“Kiltwalkers should be rightly proud of the difference they are making.”

Charities receiving funding so fare are: Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity; CHAS; STV Children’s Appeal; Beatson Cancer Charity; Les Hoey MBE Dream Maker Foundation; and Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland.

Calum's Cabin, a holiday retreat on the Isle of Bute for children with cancer and cancer related diseases, has received funding of more than £52,000.

This will give many more families the opportunity to spend quality family time together.

Calum's mum, Caroline Speirs, said "The funds will help so many more families come to the cabin, cottage and Mount Stuart in their time of need.

“We are enormously grateful to those taking part in this year's Kiltwalks. They should be really proud of what they have achieved and know the difference it will make to so many families.”

Kiltwalk chief executive Paul Cooney revealed that over £86,000 has already been pledged from the Aberdeen Kiltwalk and further events on Speyside and Edinburgh (18 September ).

He said: “The response from people all over Scotland has been phenomenal. There was a real carnival atmosphere in both Glasgow and Aberdeen and we’re still seeing numbers increasing for the forthcoming Kiltwalks in Edinburgh and Speyside.

"As we’ve done in Glasgow and Aberdeen, as soon as the money comes in we’ll be distributing it to a variety of local and national children’s charities.”

Sign up for the Edinburgh and Speyside events here.