A TARTAN Army fan who walked to Munich for the Euros is embarking on a new journey – this time to showcase the “amazing" people who "make Scotland so special”.
Craig Ferguson, 21, is set to walk the entire length of mainland Scotland to raise awareness of local charities and volunteer groups, almost exactly one year after he completed his 1000-mile journey from Hampden Park to Munich for Scotland’s opening game against Germany in the Euros.
Ferguson will set off from the Mull of Galloway lighthouse in Dumfries and Galloway at 10am on Saturday, hoping to make the 400-mile journey to Dunnet Head, the northernmost point on the mainland, in around 16 days.
“It’s a year on from my last big challenge, and I want to continue to do this work for charity,” Ferguson told The National.
“I also want to continue keeping myself fit with these challenges.”
“With it having such a focus on Scotland, I wanted to open it up a bit more,” he told The National.
“I thought that it was a little unfair just to be raising money for one charity when there’s so many amazing charity and volunteer groups up and down the country.”
Ferguson plans on meeting with local charity and volunteer groups as he makes his way north to raise awareness of the work that they do.
The young Scot said he hopes to showcase “not only the people of Scotland, the beauty that we have in our own country, but the amazing work that people are doing which make our country so special”.
He continued: “It’s the day-to-day people that are working with charities and volunteer groups that keep this country afloat.
“I know it’s cliché and people say it a lot, but people do make Scotland so, so special.
“I may not be able to raise thousands of pounds for each of them, but if we can get a lot of eyes on these charities for people that maybe didn’t even know that they were there, I think that’s a big positive in itself.”
Ferguson also said it was “the perfect time” to complete a challenge like this.
“With the world being so divisive right now, there’s so much different stuff happening,” he said.
”If I can spread a little bit of love and remind people of the amazing work people do, that’s probably the part that excites me the most.”
But there may be some challenges along the way – such as Scotland’s unpredictable weather and varied terrain.
Ferguson is also going to be wild camping along the route, which he said “could either slow me down or get me out there a lot faster”.
But last year’s trek to Munich has certainly prepared him well, as he said: “The confidence that I now have going into this, knowing that physically and mentally my body can keep up with the demand of a challenge this big.
“I learned more about my body during the walk to Germany than I ever probably will.
“You learn your limits quite quickly, especially when it’s the repetitive movement of walking. You learn what your physical barriers are in terms of how many miles you can do in a day, you learn that you can push yourself a lot further.”
Ferguson said the possibility of Scotland qualifying for next year’s World Cup was also spurring him on, telling The National that if the team were successful, he had something planned that would be “way bigger” than his previous challenges.
But he added: “With the way that the national team are playing, I won’t get my hopes up too much on that one.”
As well as raising awareness of local charities along his journey, Ferguson has also set up a personal fundraiser for Brothers in Arms, which you can donate to here.
You can follow along with his journey on social media (TikTok and Instagram), at @craigferguson_1
