Robert the Bruce leads Charity Cancer March from Scone Palace

As part of Strathleven Artizans, regular visitors to Scone Palace are often entertained by Robert the Bruce re-enactor, Brian McCutcheon, who helps bring the most feared warrior of his generation to life.

Brian tells stories of how Bruce was crowned King of Scotland at Scone, and went on to defeat Edward II at The Battle of Bannockburn. So, when his partner Gini Craig, decided to raise an army and march to help wage war on cancer, she knew the story had to begin at Scone Palace.

Robert the Bruce\'s mother was a formidable woman and it is said she held his father captive and refused to release him till he agreed to marry her. But Brian\'s own mum, Jean, is suffering from an inoperable cancer.

Gini had noticed her Facebook friends were changing their profile pictures to raise awareness of cancer, but she wanted to do something more worthwhile.

 \"Sadly, like most people I know - I was all too aware of cancer and it got me thinking, could I do something more than change my profile picture on social media? That morning, on my way to work, I came up with ‘Our 555 Challenge\' - a plan for me and my best friend, Yvonne Kernachan, to take on 5 challenges in 2017 to raise £5000 for 5 cancer charities.\"

The self-described ‘40-something, plump mother of 2\' fancied a road, sea, mountain, air and ‘serious bottle\' challenge that would make her two sons proud and inspire others to arrange their own unique fundraising opportunities.

The first of these challenges is a 100km walk, ‘From Scone to the Scotia.\'

\"Scone Palace holds a very special place in our hearts and minds, so where better to begin this walk and launch the 5 challenges than at Scone!\" explains Gini.

On February 25th 2017 Gini, Yvonne and an army of friends led by Robert the Bruce in full regalia will set off on the first of 5 challenges from Scone Palace. Over 36 hours, they plan to walk 100km from the crowning place of Scottish Kings to Glasgow\'s oldest pub, the Scotia Bar. Gini\'s eldest son, who is studying PE at college will accompany them, but being ‘horrifyingly fit\' has not needed to train as extensively as the ladies have.

Margo Baird, Marketing Manager for Scone Palace commented:

\"We\'re delighted that Gini has chosen Scone Palace as a venue to launch ‘Our 555 Challenge\' and are happy to lend our support. Her desire to do something worthwhile has led to a very inspiring and creative approach to fundraising which will benefit some fantastic charities.\"

The packed calendar of challenges for the 555 team throughout 2017 include:

 May - racing a Viking longboat to raise funds for ‘Our 555 Challenge\' and ChildLine, in Belfast

July - climbing the highest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis.

September - stepping off The Titan Crane in Glasgow and zipping across the River Clyde on a wire.

November - performing the hardest challenge of all, with a talent show as part of a fundraising party evening.

Participants will meet the cost of these activities themselves, ensuring all funds raised will go straight to the charities. The challenge has currently reached 12% of its target on Just Giving, and is also raising extra money through individual sponsorship.

The charities chosen to receive donations from ‘Our 555 Challenge\' are Cancer UK, MacMillan Cancer Support, Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust, Breast Cancer Care and Be Child Cancer Aware.

\"As women, mums, daughters and sons the chosen charities are close to our hearts. Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust and MacMillan have both given our family and Jean such valuable support. We want to give something back, and hopefully our challenges will show others that you don\'t need to run a marathon or wait for an organised event to come along, just get up and do your own thing!\" encourages Gini.
 

Follow Gini and Yvonne\'s journey on #Our555Challenge on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/events/300314773668069/ 

Donate via Just Giving

 https://www.justgiving.com/teams/our555challenge