Event Background
Caledonian Challenge Event Background
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 £9m 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 the only organisation of its kind in Scotland and was founded in 1996. 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.