Highland Hospice has received a huge donation of £73,000 from the organisers of one of Scotland’s toughest charity challenges. The Great Wilderness Challenge has always had strong links with the Hospice – having been established in the 1980s as a one-off to raise funds for the our original Inpatient Unit. The event proved so successful it has become an annual fixture raising huge sums for various charities, retaining particularly strong links with the Hospice.
The donation to Highland Hospice was the largest single donation out of a fundraising tally which reached £162,000 spread between 19 charities. Over the years the event has raised over £3.6m in total.
Andrew Leaver, the Hospice’s head of fundraising, added: “Over the past few years the contribution from the challenge has been enough to pay for two full time hospice nurses each year. We are hugely grateful to the organising committee and all the participants for this support.”
The main challenge takes in a gruelling 25 mile trek across the remote mountainous region between Dundonnell and Poolewe, known as the Great Wilderness. As the event has grown in popularity it has added 13 and seven mile distances. Every year around 500 people take part across all of the events.
You can joint the Highland Hospice team for 2017 Great Wilderness Challenge here.