Friendship, family and community at the heart of GCU students fundraising efforts

Two final year GCU students have been reflecting on completing the West Highland Way and raising £5000 for charity.

Podiatry student Shannon Glen and Occupational Therapy student Zoe Bell decided to do something a little different to help raise funds for Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs (SFAD).

Having grown up in Aberfeldy joined at the hip, Shannon and Zoe decided to become literally inseparable when it came to taking on Scotland’s most famous long-distance walking trail.

Shannon explained: “We decided to complete the 96 miles three-legged! Basically we had a leg tied to each other by a bandage. The inspiration came from both our mums who completed the West Highland Way together 20 years ago. They’re always talking about it so it was definitely something we had been thinking about doing for a while.”

Zoe added: “We raised money for Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs. My dad passed away due to alcohol and we both felt there wasn’t a lot of awareness about it as an issue overall. We had always spoke about doing the walk for charity, and obviously Shannon had grown up knowing my dad as well because our families are very close.”

Word quickly spread in the local community about Zoe and Shannon’s fundraising efforts, but it was also helped by another crucial factor…

“Our mums are absolutely mad for sharing things on Facebook,” explained Zoe. “We actually ended up on the official West Highland Way page, which definitely helped more people find out about it as well.

“In addition to that, Aberfoyle is a tiny place and we were obviously really excited to do the walk, so we were  basically telling everyone in the village. It was really nice because people from our local pharmacy gave us lots of free stuff to help us out – but I still ended up with really bad blisters even after Shannon telling me what I needed to do to prevent them!”

Blisters were just one of the challenges facing the girls throughout their journey but they weren’t short of grit and determination – even on three legs.

Zoe said: “The main issue was actually the height difference between us - it was even more awkward to do it three-legged when there’s about a six-inch difference. I had to shorten my stride length as a result and managed to trip us up a few times!”

Shannon added: “We definitely had our ups and downs. Some days were good and then other days I went non-verbal for a bit because I needed to lock-in and just try to get to the end. The biggest thing that kept me going was knowing how much people had supported us – we weren’t going to allow ourselves to give up.”

Luckily the girls had a supportive network throughout their seven days of hiking to help them reach the finish line and raise an incredible amount of money for SFAD.

Shannon explained: “We were lucky because we had a member of our family or a friend meet us each night to see how we were getting on. Our mums also walked two of the days with us but didn’t do it three-legged this time! They were singing songs and trying to keep us going.

“Someone who met our mums 20 years ago on the West Highland Way actually came and walked the Devil’s Staircase with us as well, so it was really nice to see the impact doing something like this can have after all these years.”

“Having that company definitely gave us a boost. It was particularly tough going into our final day because we knew we had to walk 14 miles. Zoe and I walked the first 13 miles and then it was lovely because our amazing family and friends joined us for the last mile. There were even other walkers cheering us on – it was just such a friendly, fun atmosphere.

“We all got fish and chips together at the end so it was nice to share that moment with everyone.”

With a total of £5000 raised for charity, Shannon and Zoe aren’t ruling out a return to the West Highland Way in the future – but for now they’re definitely happy to be putting their feet up.

Shannon: “We got a letter from the charity which was just really nice because they were saying how the money will be used to support individuals. It was amazing to hear the impact it will have.”

Zoe: “I wasn’t expecting to raise anything like that amount. SFAAD were delighted and we’re looking forward to presenting them with the cheque at one of their events soon.

“I would definitely like to do the West Highland way at some point again and maybe even beat our time, so that’s definitely something to consider in future but I’m just really proud of what we have achieved for now.”

By Ross Clark

Achieved something related to your course or in your personal life? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk