Fife man walking Christian pilgrimage route for charity

Lewis Davis will walk part of the ‘Camino de Santiago’ in aid of Prostate Scotland next month.

Setting off from St Jean Pied de Port in southern France, Lewis will hike 500 miles over the Pyrenees into Spain, to the city of Santiago de Compostela.

In order to successfully complete the challenge, Lewis is required to have his pilgrim passport stamped at certain points along the way. He will be joining some of the 100,000 pilgrims from over 100 different countries who walk, horse-ride or cycle their way to Santiago each year.

Lewis was inspired to take on the challenge after reading Bill Bryson’s ‘A Walk in the Woods’ and seeing the film ‘The Way’, about the Camino.

Having completed the West Highland Way in 2012 to raise money for CHAS, he was keen to try a bigger challenge. He has stepped up his training from playing rugby for Glenrothes and walking his spaniel every day, to walking round Loch Leven with a 40kg pack to get used to the weight.

“I felt if I was doing such a large once-in-a-lifetime challenge, that I would try and help a charity which resonated with me,” said Lewis.

“As much as the journey will be a personal one for me, perhaps even spiritual and definitely a physical challenge unlike anything I’ve ever done before, it gives me more motivation to be able to do it for Prostate Scotland as well.

“I’m just very proud to represent the charity on my Camino and raise awareness with all the people I will meet from all over the world.”

Adam Gaines, director of Prostate Scotland, said: “We are extremely grateful to Lewis for his wonderful initiative of undertaking the ‘Camino de Santiago’ to raise much needed awareness about prostate cancer and raise money to support our work to tackle prostate cancer and disease.”

Mr Gaines added: “His support will be a wonderful help to us in our work to enable many more men and their families across Scotland to have access to information about the most common cancer in men in Scotland, and to also further support our work to help encourage early diagnosis, as early diagnosis can often lead to more successful treatment and cure.”

With generous support from family and friends, Lewis has already raised more than £510 towards his £1000 target.

To read more about the challenge or make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lewis-kd.