Ayrshire care workers are set to take on a near 100 mile trek in honour of their colleague and dear friend who was tragically killed in a crash.
Work pals of Shona McKinlay will put their best foot forward for the bubbly mum-of-two who died in a devastating A70 crash last October.
Mum-of-two Shona, from Dreghorn, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene near Holmston Roundabout, Ayr around 5.55am on October, 28 2022. She was just 46.
Now almost six months on from losing their big-hearted pal, a dedicated group of eight ladies who work for South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) are on course to raise thousands in her memory – as they gear up to walk the West Highland Way.
Roslyn Hodge and Jane Brown will lead colleagues, Trisha, Audrey, Barbara-Anne, Evonne, June, and Pamela into the Scottish wilderness as they stomp across the iconic route between Milngavie and Fort William.
The group will head off on Easter Monday (April 10) in a bid to raise cash for Poppy Scotland and the Royal British Legion – two charities championed by their late pal.
Roslyn, 44, from Ayr, told Ayrshire Live: “Shona was fantastic at her job, she was a big character and she is sorely missed by us all.
“She was always full of fun and mischievous and up to pranks and silly stuff.
“We had talked about the West Highland Way last year and we had planned to do it with Shona, prior to the accident.”
After grieving the loss of their friend, the group vowed to keep their West Highland Way promise to Shona.
And they insisted that raising cash for two huge armed forces charities was the “obvious choice”, with Shona such a huge supporter of the veteran causes, she had a poppy sticker on her motor and locker at work.
“We were going to do it for a lot of different reasons, but following on from what happened it was an obvious choice for us to do it for Poppy Scotland and the Royal British Legion,” Roslyn added.
“Fundraising was a huge part of Shona’s life, who along with her partner took part in a lot of fundraising events for veterans.
“Shona’s family had strong links with the armed forces. She was a huge Rangers fan as well, that was just her life, her football team and raising money for ex-military personnel in any kind of way.
The group are hoping to complete the challenge which they admit will be a “huge undertaking”, but Roslyn insists they are ready to do it altogether.
Roslyn added: “We are going to have to battle against the elements, it will be tricky with the difficult terrain and the weather.
“We’ve got all the kit, we’ve been following lots of pages on Facebook for advice and it looks like a lot of young people try it and struggle, but we’ll stick together and get through it.
“It’s going to be emotional at times, remembering all the laughs and good times we had with Shona.
“Her family are really proud that we are doing it in her memory, we hope we can raise as much money as possible for Shona.”
You can donate to the group's West Highland Way fundraiser here.
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