Sir Tom Hunter and Jackie Bird led thousands of Scots on the annual Kiltwalk yesterday. The duo donned matching tartan kilts to tackle the gruelling 28-mile walk from Glasgow to Loch Lomond alongside 14,000 others.
The day before, a further 6,000 people had also hiked from Clydebank to Balloch, raising a combined £4 million for 1,111 Scottish charities.
Mr Hunter told crowds: 'You good folks got out of your beds this morning to be part of something that has become a fantastic movement for Scotland. You're here because of someone you know, or a charity you care about, and you've chosen to help. That, in my opinion, is what makes Scotland the greatest wee country in the world.'
Helped along by the spring sunshine and supportive cheers from onlookers, the selfless Scots marched in aid of small and large charities like the Beatson Cancer and Glasgow Children's Hospital.
Kiltwalk Raises Millions for Charity
770 walkers also chose to support Sir Chris Hoy's Tour de 4 campaign, which supports cancer charities across the UK. The show of support for the Olympic champion, who has stage 4 prostate cancer, comes six months after the Edinburgh leg of the charity walk raised a further £95,000 for Hoy's Tour de 4.
Speaking a decade after his first Kiltwalk, Sir Tom revealed that over ten years, the annual fundraiser has generated £62 million for over 4,400 charities. Of this, £48 million was raised by 240,000 walkers, while £14 million was donated by the businessman's The Hunter Foundation.
Sir Tom also announced his own ambitions for Kiltwalk to reach £100 million of funds in the next five years, to 'be there' for Scottish charities during economically challenging times. Ahead of the event he stressed: 'The need has never been greater and Kiltwalk is one of the few remaining events still enabling fundraising to go ahead.'
