Partially sighted Fifer Kris in epic 3200-mile journey for charity
A partially sighted man from Kirkcaldy is set to travel the length of Britain to mark the 160th anniversary of the Kingdom’s sight loss charity which has supported him for the past 10 years.
Kris Baillie will take on the six-day challenge, travelling from Shetland to Penzance in Cornwall, to raise funds for Seescape.
As well as supporting the charity, he also hopes to highlight some of the challenges and opportunities of travelling by public transport with a visual impairment.
Kris, 45, is taking on the challenge as part of Seescape’s ‘160 challenge’ to mark its milestone anniversary. His journey, spanning more than 3,200 miles, started on Monday and will see him criss-crossing the country to increase his travel distance.
The mammoth trip will include ferries between Aberdeen and Shetland, as well as Britain’s longest train journey from Aberdeen to Penzance. As this particular rail route is being removed from May 18, his journey will be one of the last times it is completed.
He will spend less than half an hour in Cornwall, before boarding a coach back up north to Edinburgh, via Birmingham and Leeds. His journey will finally end back in Kirkcaldy just before midnight on May 18.
Since his diagnosis of partial sight loss in 2015, Kris regularly attends Seescape’s centre in Glenrothes and has benefited from the charity’s peer support network.
He said: “I am very grateful to Seescape and everything it has done for me since I was diagnosed with sight loss. I wanted to help give back and celebrate its milestone anniversary. Public transport can sometimes be a challenge for someone with sight loss and I wanted to do this to challenge to show others that it is still possible to travel and live fully, with the right support, which is what Seescape has given me. “I feel like I’m completing The Proclaimers song ‘500 miles’, but I am doing 2,500 more!”
Donations can be made to Kris’ online fundraiser at www.justgiving.com/campaign/160challenge
Lesley Carcary, Seescape’s chief executive, said: “We’re incredibly proud of Kris and deeply touched by his determination and generosity. As we celebrate 160 years of service in Fife, this journey reminds us of the resilience of the people we support – and we are grateful for anyone who supports us, either through fundraising or volunteering. We can’t wait to follow Kris’s journey and support him along the way.”