Glenrothes hillwalker to complete fundraising challenge

A hillwalker from Glenrothes will complete a challenge on Sunday for the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH).

Ross Cunningham (34) will attempt to climb 10 Fife hills in under 24 hours tomorrow in order to raise money for SAMH.

The combined total height that Ross will climb is over 3,700 metres.

He used hiking with his to help his own mental health when he was suffering with depression and now encourages others to get involved on his website.

Ross told Kingdom FM News why he chose this task: "I'm pretty sure that no-one's ever attempted to try and do the 10 highest hills in Fife in under 24 hours before so I thought it's quite an exciting challenge.

"I did a staircase challenge during lockdown for SAMH where I climbed the equivalent of three Scottish mountains, including Ben Nevis, on my staircase. Everybody was locked down at home and I just wanted to try and do something to raise some money for an amazing charity - a charity like SAMH that does so much to support people across Scotland with ill mental health."

He continued: "I wanted to do something a little bit different. I'm really into my hills and my mountains and actually what I think doesn't get the attention that it should get are the Fife hills. We've got some amazing hills in Fife, great for people of most abilities and most ages.

"I think hillwalking and just generally getting outside, getting outdoors, getting some exercise and nature is really good for mental health. In Fife we're really lucky we've got some amazing places to explore. The Fife hills are great because it's a great way for people to get into hillwalking. I couldn't really promote them enough."

In the approach to World Mental Health Day, SAMH has been getting people involved with the Virtual Stomp event. Participants can choose from four difficulty levels before starting to climb thousands of stairs to raise money.

So far, Ross has raised nearly £400 for the charity and he is hoping to hit his £500 target before he attempts the challenge tomorrow.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the fundraiser can do so here: https://samh-virtualstomp.blackbaud-sites.com/fundraising/ross-cunningham-10-fife-hills-in-24-hours