A charity boss reckons he has raised £10,000 by pulling a sculpture of a soldier the length of Scotland.
Robin Hood undertook the challenge to raise funds for forces charity Southwest Scotland RnR.
He pulled the carving of Commando Jock more than 350 miles from John O’Groats to Dumfries in just under 40 days to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
It follows a similar walk last year pulling the sculpture, when he trekked from Scotland to the south of England.
Robin, who is the charity’s chief executive, said: “It took me four days longer than I had planned. I thought once I got to Glasgow I would whizz through it but at Bearsden Cross it was very hilly.
“At John O’Groats there’s only a few houses but I still managed to raise over £250 there. People in the Highlands were very generous and I think we’ve raised around £10,000.
“I had to pack up and go home at Kilmarnock because I was exhausted. I went home and slept for two days solid then went back to continue.”
Money raised from the two trips, along with a £135,500 UK Government grant received in 2017, helps fund Southwest RNR’s training programme that assists ex-servicemen back to work.
Robin said: “We have managed to put 36 people back into work and our government funders are delighted with this for a number of reasons.
“For example, we have two lads who have gone through their class one lorry driver training. They are in their early 40s so will probably pay around £500,000 in income tax during their careers.
“They are no longer receiving benefits, they are transporting goods round the UK and their job satisfaction is immense.
“The job satisfaction I get from that is phenomenal.
“My board of trustees has now invited me to work on a bigger application for more offices so that we can help people in other parts of Scotland and the north of England.”
