Young Aidan is an inspiration as he pedals his way to raising over £1000
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Seven-year-old Aidan MacGruer of Thurso has proved an inspiration after cycling 50 miles in January raising over £1000 for the Maggie's Centre in Inverness.
The primary three Mount Pleasant Gaelic medium pupil was undaunted by the wintry weather conditions throughout the month and insisted on wearing his shorts on each outing.
Young Aidan took part in the Maggie's Highland 50 Miles Challenge cycling along beside his mum Debbie Larnach, a local triathlon club member, who opted to run her miles.
He was said to be "over the moon" when he completed the 50 miles on Saturday. Aidan was delighted to see that a finish line had been set up by friends near his home in St Peter's Road and a few people came out to their gardens to cheer him on.
One of his mum's friends gave him balloons to take on the final bit of his challenge, while another gave him a medal inscribed with his name and an auntie made him a cake with a picture of him on it.
"He was absolutely delighted, he is just so overwhelmed with the amount of support he had," said Debbie. "He has said that the amount of money we have raised will help a lot of families."
As of Monday this week Aidan had raised £1086, with his original target being just £150. "Every time I open my Facebook the amount has gone up," added Debbie.
Joining them on the final five miles was Aidan's father Kenny MacGruer and Debbie's stepson Reece Munro.
Debbie explained that Aidan had wanted to take part in the challenge to help other families as his own papa, nana and his dad's father had passed away due to cancer.
She went on to say that her son chose to wear shorts every outing through hail and snow, recalling one particularly bad day when it was blowing a gale, however Aidan still insisting on finishing five miles. "He is a determined wee man," she said. "A lot of people have been following him and said what an inspiration – they have taken motivation from him, all because he is such a happy wee guy and positive about it all."
Among the many other local people taking part in the challenge was Wick hairdresser Vivian Campbell, of Shear Klass, who also raised over £1000.
Quite surprised at how many donations she got, Vivian said: "I could not believe how much I raised, my original goal was to raise £150 – I was quite overwhelmed by it.
I wanted to do something because of all my friends that have had cancer, specially those through lockdown. I know that the Maggie's Centre is an incredibly important place and is very good at helping people.
She has raised £1250 so far but the fundraising page is still open until Sunday, February 7.
Along with Cassie, her Manchester terrier for company, Vivian completed her 50 mile challenge with a mix of walking and jogging along the roads and tracks around her home near Halkirk.
The popular hairdresser is keen to get back to work as soon as the current restrictions allow.
Fundraising manager for Maggie's Inverness, Andrew Benjamin, said: “We are completely blown away with the enthusiasm, determination and unflinching efforts of the 960 people from across the Highlands who have taken on our 'Run 50 in January' challenge to raise funds to help people living with cancer.
“Our online community page has become an inspirational hub of support and encouragement where members have cheered each other towards the finishing line, donated to others and shared stories of how Maggie’s Highlands has helped them or family members.
"So far an incredible £226k has been raised for our Highlands centre in Inverness which, as we rely on voluntary donations, will help us reach as many people living with cancer as possible living across the region.
“We would like to give our sincere thanks to everyone who has taken part in this challenge and everybody who has sponsored them”
Maggie’s Highlands, based beside Raigmore Hospital, helped 11,000 cancer sufferers, friends and family in 2020 and, with the volume of delayed diagnosis due to the pandemic, expects to break that record this year.
