Deacon Blue's Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh were amongst those who took part in the SCIAF Family Fun Run
The stars of hit Scottish band Deacon Blue joined hundreds of runners at a family fun run this weekend.
Singers Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh crossed the finish line with their dog Alfie in tow at the SCIAF 6k Family Fun Run at the weekend.
The event took place at Strathclyde Country Park in Motherwell on Saturday (2 June) to help raise funds and show solidarity with the millions of poor families around the world who are forced to walk for hours in search of food and water, or flee across continents to safety.
Ross said: “SCIAF’s 6k was absolutely brilliant and taking part really makes you feel like you’re making a difference to the lives of the poorest people in the world.
“The sun was shining and everyone had great fun. One of the charms of this run is the fact that we were able to bring our dog Alfie and he loved it, then we were running past mums and dads with their sons and daughters, and people walking with babies in buggies. It couldn’t have been better and there was a lovely atmosphere.”
McIntosh added: “I was a great turnout this year and I’d definitely encourage everyone to come along next year so please spread the word. Every step of that run was a step towards someone getting food or water. While we were running, we had the people SCIAF helps in our thoughts.”
This year’s winner David Cathie, 47, from Strathaven, Lanarkshire, who ran with his wife Theresa and their four children, crossed the finish line after 22 minutes and 34 seconds.
“This is my first SCIAF 6k and I can thoroughly recommend it. I’ll definitely be back next year. It was great fun and the weather was fantastic,” he said.
The youngest winner two years running was Michael Nolan, 12, a pupil at St Ninian’s High in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire.
He said: “I was harder than last year because it was a lot warmer but I really enjoyed it. I’d say to other young people they should definitely get involved. I really support SCIAF and it’s important that people are made aware about children in other countries who are not as fortunate as us.”
SCIAF’s director Alistair Dutton heralded the charity’s second fun run a huge success and thanked everyone for coming along.
He said: “Thanks to all our supporters for their support on the day and for making it so much fun. I’d also like to say a special thanks to Ricky, Lorraine and everyone else who has helped promote our 6k run this year.
“Every step in the 6k helps thousands of people we work with in some of the poorest countries in the world take a step closer to freeing themselves from poverty, support themselves and their families, live in peace, learn new skills and get help when disaster strikes.”
