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A team of walkers and their support crew from Canyon Offshore, an Aberdeen based subsea company, were last night (Thursday 25 September) awarded Top Fundraising team at this year’s RBS Caledonian Challenge for raising £16,102 for the Scottish Community Foundation, an independent grant-making charity dedicated to strengthening communities in Scotland.

It’s been over 3 months since 1300 weary walkers on the RBS Caledonian Challenge crossed the finishing line at Loch Lomond following a grueling 54 mile walk along the West Highland Way in 24 hours. In total over 300 teams raised £950,000 with Gary Aylmer, Shane Jakeman, Scott Sparks, Euan Roberts, Jayne Addie and Claire Sheperd of Team Grand Canyon raising more than any of the other 1300 walkers at the event. Their Top Fundraising Award was announced on Thursday 25 September  at the Royal College of Physicians, Queen Street, Edinburgh as part of The RBS Caledonian Challenge Champions Awards’ reception celebrating physical, fundraising and team spirit triumphs.

With two ex Navy team members in Gary Aylmer and Shane Jakeman, the training regime was hard and intense and following the event the pair had to admit that the Challenge more than measured up to some of their tougher exercises. Shane felt the extent of this on the course tearing a muscle with 18 miles of tough terrain still to go. Commenting, Shane said: “I really had to push myself and at the end of the day its an opportunity to prove yourself to your family, friends and peers that no matter how tough it gets you can still pull through. We were a close bunch before the challenge but having an experience such as this to share together will no doubt make us stronger.”

The team raised over £8,000 through various fundraising activities but it was the generous donation from their employers Canyon Offshore that really made the difference. Team leader, Gary Aylmer said: “The whole team is proud of our achievements and having over 600 support assistants, dry weather and a great sense of humour certainly helped, but ultimately it was the enormous support from all our sponsors that pushed us on. Grand Canyon raised over £8,000 from businesses and individuals and were overwhelmed when Helix Energy Solutions Group of companies agreed to match this to generate over £16,102.  All the kind donations kept us motivated and we’re extremely honoured to have won this award.”

The real winners of the RBS Caledonian Challenge are the local community groups and charities benefiting from the funds raised for the Scottish Community Foundation. Since its inception in 1996, the Challenge has attracted over 12,000 walkers who have braved the West Highland Way course. Together, all of these walkers have raised over £8m for the charity, supporting the work of the Scottish Community Foundation in strengthening communities throughout Scotland. Projects range from youth theatres to elderly support groups, drugs advice services to healthy eating initiatives.

24 grants to the value of £51,920 have been awarded to Aberdeenshire community groups and charities in Aberdeenshire since July 2006.  See Notes to Editors for information on grants awarded in 2008.

The 2009 RBS Caledonian Challenge takes place on the 13th and 14th June and interested teams can take advantage of the early bird entry discount by
booking online for £75 before the end of December. For more details please
visit www.caledonianchallenge.com <http://www.caledonianchallenge.com>

ENDS>

Media Contact:
For images, interviews or any other media enquires please contact Paddy
Cuthbert at Podge Publicity on 07968 699 636 or email paddy@podge.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

The official title of the event is THE RBS CALEDONIAN CHALLENGE. Please visit www.caledonianchallenge.com for more information.

RBS Caledonian Challenge 2008
This year 1300 walkers from the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Canada, USA, South Africa, India and New Zealand set off from Glen Nevis near Fort William on Saturday 14 June 2008 on Britain’s most spectacular physical and mental team fundraising challenge – The RBS Caledonian Challenge. 78% completed the gruelling ordeal on Sunday 15 June. Taking in some of Scotland’s most stunning highland scenery along the way the route starts in Glen Nevis in the shadows of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK, just outside Fort William, travels through Glen Coe via the 'Devil's staircase' to cross the remote Rannoch Moor.  Walkers then follow the route through Bridge of Orchy down to Auchtertyre and finally on to the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond where the Challenge finishes at Ardleish. Teams are then whisked over the shores by boat to the finish village at Ardlui.

Since the first Challenge 12 years ago the 12,000 walkers have clocked up a total of 513,000 miles; that’s the same as walking to the moon and back. The number of miles accumulatively walked by the 2008 participants is the equivalent of two and half times around the Earth. On average, each walker on the RBS Caledonian Challenge takes 108,000 steps along the 54 mile route, drinking on average 15 litres of water and burning off between 8,000 to 10, 000 calories in the process; and around 9,000 pairs of socks are worn by the walkers during each event.

Background to the RBS Caledonian Challenge
Two Scots, Angus MacDonald and Alex Blyth founded the Caledonian Challenge in 1997. Inspired by a walking event in Hong Kong, they wanted to bring a similar challenge to Scotland’s rugged and beautiful West Highland region.

The Caledonian Challenge has grown from just 17 walkers raising £16,000 to become Scotland's top charity endurance event, with more than 1,500 walkers braving the trail in 2007.

Each year, the event has raised more than £1million for the Scottish Community Foundation’s nominated charities.  These funds support the work of the Scottish Community Foundation, which helps people to give back to Scotland. The Caledonian Challenge has raised over £8m since its inception, helping fund projects that range from youth theatres to elderly support groups, drugs advice services to healthy eating initiatives.

The Scottish Community Foundation (SCF) is an independent grant-making charity dedicated to strengthening communities in Scotland. We match philanthropic people and organisations to good causes. grassroots projects run by locally based charities and voluntary groups. It is the only organisation of its kind.

Since its inception in 1996, the charity has distributed over £14million with a further £4million which will be distributed by the end of the current financial year. This makes us the fourth largest funder of the Scottish voluntary sector.

In 2005 alone £2.5 million of Scottish Community Foundation grants reached every sector of society in every corner of Scotland; from under fives and over seventies to arts groups and disadvantaged teenagers; from the rural Highlands and Islands to the Scottish Borders, isolated rural areas to crowded inner cities. The sums involved were just as far ranging; the smallest gift was £200, the largest a long term grant of £25,000 per year.

Grants awarded in Aberdeenshire in 2008 include:


13/08/2008    Tornaveen Community Centre    To provide a water supply to the community hall as mains water is not available.    Community Grants    £5,000
26/06/2008    The Family History Society of Buchan    To cover the cost of 6 carpet tiles and 6 desk chairs only.    Community Grants    £336
04/06/2008    Roads Community Project    To employ a part time café manager for 6 months to assist the volunteers and get the café facility up and running.    Community Grants    £4,000
29/01/2008    Brighter Horizons    To furnish and equip a new dedicated young persons facility.    Community Grants        £3,000

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group ("RBS Group") is one of the world's leading financial services companies providing a range of retail and corporate banking, financial markets, consumer finance, insurance, and wealth management services. RBS Group operates in Europe, the US and Asia Pacific serving more than 36 million personal customers world-wide and employing more than 140,000 people.  In addition to the provision of a full range of banking services under The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest brands, RBS Group also includes Citizens Financial Group, Ulster Bank, Coutts Group, Direct Line and Churchill.