Unst trekkers raise £7,000

Seven Unst lasses completed a 60-plus mile trek around the coastline of the island last month.

Fern Johnson, Siobhan Pirie, Alana Johnson, Andrea Laurenson, Lindsey Jamieson, Jodi Clark and Jenny Hamilton, set off on the four day trek on 17th July.

They were lucky and got good weather for the majority of the weekend – with most of the group getting some sort of sunburn along the way. Each day they were accompanied by extra walkers, which really helped keep them going.

They were also met by different people at various locations delivering refreshments and snacks, none of which the group knew about before setting out, so each time was a pleasant surprise. On day four after a pretty wet section of walking, the walkers were delighted to be stopped at Brucehall and invited in to Nicol Hunter’s for bacon rolls.

The end was in sight by this point and the group were in high spirits, buoyed by the large group of walkers and family members who had come to support them for the final leg. The walk culminated where it all began, the Westing beach, with a group of more than 20  welcoming the lasses with a huge cheer, cakes and a much needed bottle of fizz.

Group spokeswoman Fern said: “We are delighted to say we raised a massive£5,541 which will be split between our three chosen charities. Once Gift Aid is added on, the total is a whopping £6,699.50.

“When we first spoke about doing this we never imagined we would raise so much money and we cannot thank everyone enough for their generosity and support, without which none of this would have been possible. The challenge was in no way easy, but seeing how much money has been raised has made every ache, pain and blister worthwhile.

“We would like to say a massive thank you to every single person who sponsored us, who met us, walked with us, refreshed us along the way and supported us so well over the course of the four days. All of us would especially like to say a huge thank you to our families who really made the effort every day to keep us going over the whole walk.”