Four Fife friends trek from coast to coast for Maggie’s

The Dundee branch of the cancer support centre helped Fiona Palmer and her family as she battled cancer, before her death last year.

As a means of thanking the centre, and raising vital funds, the four former Madras pupils walked from Iona, along the St Columba’s Way, to St Andrews, around 174 miles.

“It’s been varied,” said Shaw Palmer, Fiona’s son.

“It was so hot on Mull, really lovely. Then we got the weather warnings and it was flooded for five days straight. It was pretty treacherous.”

One night, the four friends – two from Newport and two from St Andrews – had set up camp to spend the night next to a loch. However, they had not realised it was a sea loch, only making that discovery when seeing one of their tents almost fully submerged.

The group pushed on, though, and reached Newport on Monday, enjoying the much warmer climate.

Shaw said his mum’s fight with cancer was “a long struggle and difficult for us all”, but commended the team at the Maggie’s in Dundee for their support, saying: “Everyone in Dundee was amazing. The nurses were phenomenal and so caring for us all.

“A lot of my friends have had similar experiences.”

The group have, at the time of writing, raised £4360.

“It’s phenomenal,” said 23-year-old Shaw. “We didn’t expect it at all.”

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/coasttocoastforfiona.