Elvis Presley Walk Raises Funds

Two walkers have raised thousands of pounds for charity by travelling all the way from Elvis to Presley. David Gray and Nick Spedding walked 420 miles in a month from Elvis Voe on the Shetland island of Bressay to Presley Farm near Forres in Moray. The Aberdeen-based pair raised £13,633 for Cancer Research UK Scotland.

Mr Gray said: "The King of Walks theme seemed to capture the public's imagination. The trek ended up raising more money than we dared hope for." He said: "It is a pretty daft idea for a sponsored walk to be honest, and when we set out we thought that we would be doing well to reach our £5,000 target.

The men began their trek on 20 April and finished on 20 May. Their route, which took the pair to the top of 26 major peaks, was defined by a number of Elvis song title puns. These included Ben Nevis (as in It's now or Nevis) and Beinn Sgriol (as in King Sgriol).

The trek took them across Shetland and Orkney before landing on the mainland at Scrabster. From there they walked south to Fort William before heading north east again to Moray.

Mr Spedding said: "We have been overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. We had people stopping their cars in the middle of nowhere to give us money and folk living near the route were looking out for us. "We had pictures of Elvis tied to our rucksacks, so I don't suppose we were hard to spot."

Mark Colley-Davies, community fundraiser for Cancer Research UK Scotland said: "We are absolutely delighted to receive this incredibly generous donation from Nick and David - and what an innovative way to raise money for research into cancer. "We are indebted to them both for their support and enthusiasm which they have shown form the start."