The Kiltwalk has been relaunched for 2016 with a commitment from financial backer and philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter to try and “eradicate child poverty” in Scotland.
Sir Tom Hunter (pictured), who was speaking at a launch event at Hampden Park in Glasgow yesterday, said that it was a “disgrace” that children still lived in poverty in Scotland and also said that “if we’re still talking about child poverty in ten years then I will have failed”.
“Scotland can lead the world in becoming the first nation to eradicate child poverty; we can’t ignore it, we can change it so every child has the opportunity to be all they can be,” he said. “It falls upon our generation to tackle this and tackle it we should; we are small enough, agile enough and committed enough to get this done.”
Hunter and his philanthropic foundation became the major financial supporter of the organisation in June, after a number of Scottish children’s charities withdrew their backing from The Kiltwalk over allegations of mismanaging funds raised.
In his statement, Hunter reiterated that he would underwrite all costs so that “every single penny, every single pound” raised by The Kiltwalk will go to children’s charities in Scotland.
In order to help do that, Hunter announced a three-year partnership deal with the STV Children’s Appeal and said the Royal Bank of Scotland and car dealership Arnold Clark had also signed on as major sponsors for the 2016 fundraising events.
“The Royal Bank of Scotland, Arnold Clark and the STV Children’s Appeal share our vision that we can and will stamp out child poverty as well as helping young people most in need all across Scotland and I’m delighted to welcome them as key partners,” said Hunter.
According to a statement from the charity, it is hoping to see more than 10,000 walkers sign up across four events in 2016, with the aim of raising £1.5m for children’s charities in Scotland.
The dates for The Kiltwalk 2016 are: April 24 in Glasgow, June 5 in Aberdeen, August 14 on Speyside and September 18 in Edinburgh.
Since its inception in 2010, The Kiltwalk has raised £4m for charity.
