Christmas Day walk to raise money for RSPB in memory of hugely-respected journalist Stephen Wilkie

A fundraising walk will be held for the second year running in memory of the late Scotsman news editor Stephen Wilkie, with money raised to go directly towards wildlife care and protection.

Irina Wilkie will next month walk 13.1 miles - the equivalent of half a marathon - around Loch Leven in Fife to raise money for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

The initiative is being run in memory of her late husband Stephen, who passed away on Christmas Day in 2022, following a diagnosis of terminal liver cancer. The hugely-respected journalist was just 57 years old.

Irina, from Kinglassie, will complete the walk on December 25.

In an extended post on the JustGiving page linked to the fundraiser, Irina said: “I am going to trudge the half marathon circumference of the RSPB reserve at Loch Leven in Fife with my Labrador Bear to raise funds for this important charity, which was very close to Stephen’s heart.

“The RSPB manages some of the most magical places in Scotland, you see – 77 reserves in total spanning 72,000 hectares of mountains, moorland, Caledonian pine forests and rugged coastline.

“Your charitable donation would help to maintain those reserves, which you can visit in the hope of spotting golden eagles, otters and red squirrels, alongside wintering geese and seabird colonies.

“My husband was highly regarded as a journalist due in part to his sharp writing skills, but also his rather sharp brain … his knowledge of all things wildlife was equally impressive.

“He was committed to conservation and specifically asked me to raise funds for the RSPB in his name. I hope to do him proud when I literally walk the 13.1 miles of Loch Leven in his footsteps; it was one of his favourite routes and full of happy memories.”

The JustGiving page can be found at https://www.justgiving.com/page/for-you-stephen.

Irina added: “I do not celebrate Christmas or exchange cards or gifts, so any donation, no matter how big or small, will mean the world to me.”

Funds raised from last year’s Christmas charity walk were donated by Irina directly to Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre.

Stephen, the Scotsman’s former Deputy Head of News, started out as a trainee at the-then Glasgow Herald in 1983, before moving on to the Glasgow Courts Press Agency later the same year.

In 1984, he joined a freelance agency based in the lobby at Glasgow City Chambers.

He then spent two years in weeklies while shifting at the Scottish Sun from its launch in 1986 and moved up from reporter to crime reporter before joining the Record.

Stephen later returned to the Sun, moved to the News of the World, had a spell back in weeklies in a new elevated role and joined the Daily Express & Daily Star as reporter/news editor.

He worked for the Scotsman group from November 2018 until his death in December 2022.