Scottish Guide Dog Adventure

23 Mar 09

Scott Cunningham, from Larkhall, and his guide dog, Travis, will walk the West Highland Way from North to South in April. This amazing feat will take the duo 8 days to complete - all the more daunting in that Scott is blind - will be Scott and Travis’ fifth long distance challenge to date.

The indomitable pair have raised more than £60,000 for Guide Dogs, and have helped fund training for nine new guide dog puppies. Travis became the first guide dog to complete all 95 miles of the West Highland in 2003. Unwilling to stop there, he and Scott, who lost his sight in 1993, have undertaken many other treks to raise funds for Guide Dogs.

In a twist to the usual West Highland Way, which is normally walked from South to North, the duo will be the first blind man and guide dog to attempt the route from North to South. As such Scott is an excellent example of how loss of sight needn’t prevent anyone from achieving their goals. They hope to continue on to Ibrox in Scotland to see the Rangers play Motherwell on 11 April. They will be joined on their trek by several former Rangers players and two Royal Marines.

Scott said: “Travis and I have been thrilled by the support our cause has gathered in the build up to the latest adventure and this visit to the parliament will hopefully help raise even more awareness. While the main thrust of these treks has been to raise money for the Guide Dogs, I hope that I am also able to inspire other people to embrace challenges, big or small and experience the same sense of motivation and reward that I have gained from my expeditions.”

In honour of their good works Scott and Travis were invited along to Holyrood by Clydesdale MSP Karen Gillon. She said: “When I first heard about Scott and Travis, I was immediately impressed by the scale and ambition of their task and I was extremely keen to help them in any way that I could. The manner in which they have gone about raising money for Guide Dogs by trekking extremely challenging routes is truly inspirational.”

SuperWoof to Scott & Travis!

Awoof! Archie