A dedicated Angus charity walker is closing in on a major milestone in his latest long-distance challenge.
Since last September, Bobby Campbell has begun his day with an eight-mile walk from his Edzell home in pursuit of a 5000-mile target to raise cash for children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent.
He is now within touching distance of the 2000-mile mark and has credited the daily sojourn with helping his recovery from surgery which he underwent less than 12 months ago.
Over four decades, Bobby has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for various causes in a series of charity endeavours which saw him honoured with the MBE in 1996.
Having undergone two hip replacements, he had feared this current fund-raiser might beat him after artery problems led to him having a stent operation just as he celebrated his 64th birthday last July. But Bobby believes striding out has helped the recovery process.
“When I started this walk in September again after the operation it was a bit of struggle but the walking actually seems to have helped things and I’m beginning to really enjoy it again,” said Bobby, who is also keeping a detailed log of the challenge.
His daily route is the four-mile trek from Edzell to the Keithock roundabout near the A90 and back and he gets ample encouragement from road users who have become used to seeing the former bobby pounding his familiar beat.
“With the better weather I’m now getting up at 6.30 and that means I’m home by 10-ish. There’s still a long way to go but I’ve amazed myself with the way I’ve managed on the two artificial hips and with the stent so I’ll just keep on going every day.”