“This is our 5th year of fundraising for Muirfield Riding Therapy! It started with a 1 million steps challenge, then the Kiltwalk, then a 10km and half marathon run and now our 95 Mile West Highland Way challenge!” As they prepare to start their biggest fundraising challenge this weekend, we spoke to supporters Rachel and Iain, about what inspired them and their goal of raising an incredible £10k, and how you can support them.
If you’ve been following along with Rachel and Iain Byers progress on our social media, you’ll know this is their 5th year of fundraising for Muirfield Riding Therapy (MRT)! With various walks (a 1 million step challenge, then two Kiltwalks) and runs (a 10km and half marathon) under their belts, the adventure-seeking couple are about to set off on their most challenging fundraiser yet. Between 7-14th June, Rachel and Iain are walking the West Highland Way (95 miles) to raise funds for Muirfield Riding Therapy, a cause close to their hearts.
They are doing this in loving memory of Rachel’s aunty, Anne Cochrane, who was a strong advocate of those in need of support and therapy, and a longtime supporter of MRT,
“It all started out because my Auntie, Anne Cochrane, who had Cochrane Carpets over at Fenton Barns, fundraised every year for MRT. She had a lot of customers coming into the shop, so it was more ‘money in the tin’ kind of fundraising, and all her spare change went in there. She would deliberately break a £20 so she could put the change in the MRT tin! We didn’t realise that she did so much, but she really loved it.”
“When she passed away unexpectedly [during the Covid Pandemic in 2020] – she had pancreatic cancer, but nobody knew about it – we just didn’t know what to do with ourselves really. I was living and working in Dundee at the time, and I saw this daily challenge of ‘1,000,000 steps’ in three months, which worked out like 10.5 thousand steps a day, but you had to do it every single day without fail!”
Rachel created a JustGiving page and shared on it why she was fundraising,
“It was just somewhere to put all that love and energy into, now that person wasn’t there anymore. I really enjoyed it and it was something else to focus on, it was something away from my professional life that I could feel a sense of achievement in doing and helping people, and it went from there!”
Two Kiltwalks followed, which they enjoyed, especially as the Kiltwalk Foundation matched Kiltwalkers donations by 50% and helped Rachel and Iain’s fundraising go from the £hundreds into the £thousands. Then last year, on turning 30, running a 10k and a half marathon, and then getting married, the couple started hatching even bigger plans,
“I’ve always wanted to do some kind of a big challenge, so the West Highland Way is our challenge for this year. It’s 95 miles from Milngavie to Fort William. We walk along the side of Loch Lomond, and through Glen Coe. We spoke to different people who have have done the route, and worked out that doing it over six days it would be a challenge, but not impossible. There will be some days that will be easier; the first day is about 12 miles, then 14. It works up to about 20 miles for a couple of days and then it tapers back down.”
“I had an overall goal in my mind that I wanted to raise £10,000 for you guys! My mum is adamant that we can raise £3,000 this year and get to the £10k this year! Slightly ambitious but we can definitely try!”
Rachel and Iain came to visit MRT and spend some time with our therapy ponies, “They’re like big dogs, they like a scratch being the ears!” said Iain!
For Rachel, she enjoys the relaxation of being around our ponies,
“They’re just so calming, such a calming presence. I like being the company of the horses. I have a busy, stressful job [Rachel is a solicitor] so it’s something else to focus on, and fundraising gives me a sense of achievement and it can feel rewarding. Everyone gets something out of it hopefully.”
Support Rachel and Iain’s fundraising
The couple had the idea of getting a picture printed of a therapy pony on the back of their MRT hoodies, with a QR code linked to their JustGiving page ‘Honouring Anne With Every Step’. Our patriarch of the herd, our Highland pony, Uist, became the poster boy,
“The plan is to wear them all the time! I work in law and people that I haven’t really spoken to before approach me and say they use a similar service in other parts and Scotland so, you know, it makes contacts you wouldn’t otherwise make. It makes for a good introduction, rather than just going right up to someone and saying, “Hey I want to talk to you about giving me money!” We’re learning, and just trying to do something better every year.”
Silent Auction
Rachel and Iain have been supporting their aim to raise £10k with an incredible Silent Auction which will be running throughout their West Highland Way challenge, with bidding ending the day after they finish, 15thJune – check out their auction lots here. They are also holding a Bake Sale in August in North Berwick and are keeping their Just Giving sponsor page open until the end of the Bake Sale so that they can announce a grand overall total.
We wondered if any friends or family will be joining them at any point on the West Highland Way walk,
“They are generally saying, good for you, enjoy that, but that’s the extent of the help offers, and donations of course! We just like challenges, we like adventure! There’s so much negative things that go on in the world, it’s just nice to be able to do something that you enjoy doing, that’s good for your health but that’s also helping other people and that makes me feel good, so yeah!”
We asked if they had any final words for anyone else thinking of taking on a fundraising challenge, which can seem daunting,
“If you don’t ask you don’t get, or as my mum’s friend says, ‘Shy kids get nowt!”
We wish Rachel and Iain all the luck in the world, and we’ll be sharing a daily update on our social media as they take to the trail!
