Frank ‘absolutely gobsmacked’ as charity walk raises £35,500 for Alzheimer Scotland
Frank Stephen has admitted to being “absolutely gobsmacked” by the amount of money he has raised for a dementia charity as a result of his coastal walk from Inverness to John O’Groats.
The 74-year-old retired vet, who lives in Thurso, completed a 14-day trek up the John O’Groats Trail at the end of May and is now able to announce an overall total.
Having initially set a target of £2500 he ended up raising £35,500, including gift aid, for Alzheimer Scotland.
Frank’s wife Moira was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2019 and moved into Seaview House care home in Wick in August last year. Moira passed away in Seaview House just two weeks after Frank finished his walk.
Moira, a retired primary school teacher, was 74. The couple had been married for almost 48 years.

“I’m just totally amazed and very appreciative of all the support that I got,” Frank said this week. “I’m absolutely gobsmacked.
“Moira passed away exactly a fortnight after I finished. It was a very peaceful passing, and she’d had great care in Seaview.
“It was a long journey but we made the best of it whilst we could.”
Frank gained an understanding of the progressive nature of the disease, and how important it is for people affected by dementia to have a support network around them.
“In some ways it gives you a series of bereavements,” he said. “As you go along you keep losing a bit more and a bit more – losing the ability to communicate with you, and then eventually to even recognise you.
“The messages I got about her after her death were a huge support to the whole family, and helped us through everything – to realise how respected and well thought of she was.”
The John O’Groats Trail is officially a 147-mile route but Frank walked a total of 174 miles, going up Fyrish Hill and Ben Bhraggie along the way.
When he reached John O’Groats on May 26 he was greeted by daughters Jo and Aileen, along with Jo’s children Anya and James, and a large crowd of supporters including local Alzheimer Scotland representatives.
In a social media post, Frank wrote that the support he received for his fundraising efforts had exceeded all expectations, adding: “I think that the response to my walk reflects how many people are or have been affected by dementia.”
A formal cheque handover to Alzheimer Scotland will take place at a later date.
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Frank will be taking part in an Alzheimer Scotland memory walk at Queen’s Park athletics stadium in Inverness, on Sunday, September 1. He has been invited to give a brief introduction at the start of the event, which will cover a 5km route on a track that is suitable for wheelchairs.
Full details of the walk can be found at memorywalk.alzscot.org.
“I’m not looking for sponsorship or anything for it but it might raise awareness,” Frank said.
He added: “I’m planning on doing some more long-distance walks in the future, but just for my own wellbeing. I’m not doing them as charity walks because I feel folk have been so generous this time that I don’t want to go back and ask the same people for money again.”
Meanwhile, Frank will be attending regular get-togethers of a carer support group in Wick for people affected by dementia. The free sessions take place at Seaview House on the last Thursday of each month, between 2pm and 4pm.
“All carers would be welcome, and whoever they’re caring for,” he said. “It would be an opportunity to meet and chat with others in a similar situation – and an opportunity to have a bit of a laugh as well.
“I just want to be involved in trying to support other people because people gave us so much support.”
Originally from Aberdeenshire, Frank moved to Thurso in 1973 to join D S MacGregor & Partners. He became senior partner in the veterinary practice and is well known to many in the farming community and beyond across Caithness and north Sutherland.