When Lauren McAdam takes her final steps on her Three Peaks Challenge this week she won’t have to look far for inspiration.
She is embarking on the challenge to help raise funds for The Herald’s bid to create a memorial garden as a tribute to Scotland’s coronavirus victims and she knows only too well how important it could become.
Lauren lost her dad Bryce, 62, to the virus on May 5 and while she has done everything she can in preparation for taking on Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, in Cumbria, and Snowdon, in Wales, she might need a bit of help on that final push and that just might come from thinking of her dad.
Read more: Kiltwalk cash takes The Herald’s campaign halfway to £50k target
“He would have thought I was mad trying to do this, but at the same time he would have been very proud,” said Ms McAdam. “We lost my dad at the height of lockdown which was a time when we couldn’t really come together with family and friends.
“When I heard about the memorial garden I thought it was so important for people to have somewhere to go. I had always wanted to do Ben Nevis and then the idea of doing the Three Peaks Challenge came about and my fiancé David and I decided to raise funds.
“We have got in a few practise walks and we enjoy hillwalking anyway and to be honest I am just really excited to do it. I think knowing we were doing this has really kept me going, it has given me a reason to get up of a morning and something positive to focus on.”
Read more: Herald memorial garden team celebrates Virtual Kiltwalk Weekend success
Ms McAdam, a community nurse and her fiancé have so far raised nearly £3000 in pledges on their Just Giving page and have been greatly supported by family and friends. It is some challenge as the Three Peaks, is a total distance is 26 miles (42kms), and 3,000m (9,843ft) of vertical ascent.
“My great aunt Sadie, who was my dad’s aunt, lives in sheltered housing and she has been spreading the word around the residents. Although they were all social distancing, word got round and they have raised around £350 which is so lovely.”
The couple had hoped to rest between peaks and had lined up a dedicated driver, however, he has now suffered an injury.
Ms McAdam added: “We had planned to do it in 24 hours and rest between peaks, but now we will need to split the driving so I think our aim will be to do it over Friday and Saturday.”
Even before the virus took its grip in the UK, Ms McAdam, from East Kilbride, could see there were dark days ahead.
She added: “As a nurse I was watching what had been happening in Italy. We had been due to get married in May and even before lockdown we changed the date to August. Then my dad was in intensive care with the virus and I thought he may not even been well enough by then and moved it to June 2021. However, sadly my dad died and it left us all devastated.
“In time having somewhere like the memorial garden to go I know will help me and may help many others who have lost loved ones.”
So far we have raised more than £27,000 towards our fundraising target of £50,000 to create a fitting memorial. IN Saturday's Herald we revealed how we had smashed through the halfway point. A donation from the Herald memorial garden Kiltwalk team raised a total of £3201 after what we had raised was matched by Sir Tom Hunter through the Hunter Foundation. We have set up a dedicated GoFundMe page to help us reach our goal and help us build a memorial as a tribute to every Scot who has died from Covid-19.
The Herald’s vision is to create a memorial peaceful area as a place where families can go to remember their loved ones lost to the pandemic.
Soon after the campaign launched we were offered Pollok Country Park as the location for the memorial by Glasgow City Council leaders.
We have received donations from readers, families and well-wishers as we try to reach our £50,000 target and the campaign was boosted by a £10,000 donation from Glasgow entrepreneur John Watson OBE.
To support Ms McAdam in her challenge go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lauren-mcadam
If you would like to donate to the campaign go to: gofundme.com/herald-garden-of-remembrance. Donations can be posted to The Herald Garden of Remembrance Campaign, Herald & Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG. With cheques made payable to The Herald. If you would like to help, send an email to: memorialgarden@theherald.co.uk
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