Star for Harris

BIG STEPS FOR SMALL FEET

Iain Ferguson

A night-time charity walk up Ben Nevis involved several groups working to help bereaved families of babies and young children.

Conceived by Michael McGuire of local group Anam Cara Fasgadh, Big Steps for Small Feet involved more than 100 walkers. It took two years to organise, with a total of 10 charities from all over the country taking part.

Michael said: ‘This collaboration was an opportunity for many people from similar organisations to come together, form new friendships and raise awareness of what the charities do.

‘It has been a tough 18 months for so many, but hopefully the love and determination of those who walked up Ben Nevis has inspired others to never to give up.’

Another Lochaber charity taking part was Star For Harris, which had a team of seven joining fellow walkers on the start line at 10pm. Everyone return tired but happy at their achievement just after 4am.

Tanya Ross of Star for Harris said: “Michael did a fantastic job to pull all this together from his inspirational vision to actually making it happen. He gave an amazing speech at the start, with everyone standing united as emotion filled the air as babies and children taken too soon were remembered.

“Smallest feet truly leave the biggest imprint on our hearts and we cannot thank the participants enough for showing such care towards bereaved families while raising money for the charities.”

While the weather on the night wasn’t great, members of the Star for Harris team still managed to perform their own rendition of Yes Sir I can Boogie on the summit, which proved popular on social media.

Wind and rain also blocked the sunrise which the walkers had planned to see on their way down as a symbol of hope and renewal but, nonetheless, everyone was delighted at what had been achieved.