A group of St Andrews University students have provided a financial boost for a national children’s charity after completing a sponsored canoeing expedition.
The 24-strong party, all members of the St Andrews Alternative Adventure Group (STAAG), raised £2007 by canoeing 96km across Scotland in three days.
They paddled from the Atlantic shores of Fort William to the North Sea at Inverness in aid of Save the Children.
The expedition took students from first year to postgraduates studies through Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and Loch Ness, the UK’s deepest loch.
In addition to battling against head winds and freezing temperatures, the boats and gear had to be carried a total of 3km around the many locks of the Caledonian Canal.
Led by second-year geography student Sean Dugan, they aimed to raise £1600 for the trip, so were delighted at surpassing their target.
In addition, a further £480 was raised for the Young Heroes St Andrews Campaign, which will go towards helping AIDS orphans in Swaziland.
Staff at Grantown Grammar School loaned five canoes for the trip.
STAAG members are no strangers to novel fund-raisers. In the past, they have travelled the equivalent of almost six marathons down the River Thames from Oxford to Greenwich in a standard pedalo, and cycled the length of Ireland.