WFS Chair met Jeff Stelling and walked 26 miles

The first day of Jeff’s Stelling’s challenge; Four Marathons, Four Nations in Four Days, kicked off at Hampden Park, home of the Scottish national team, and the nation’s oldest club, Queens Park, on the morning of 5 September and Walking Football Scotland’s Chair, Gary McLaughlin joined Jeff and over 120 men and women on their 26 mile March for Men, raising funds and awareness for Prostate cancer UK.

Route: Hampden Park to Ibrox Stadium to Celtic Park to Hamilton Academical, New Douglas Park finishing at Fir Park Stadium, Motherwell.

Jeff Stelling first started walking marathons for Prostate Cancer UK at the gates of his beloved Hartlepool United in 2016 and was here in Glasgow to begin his four marathons in four days.

When asked why, Jeff said:

“These men, and their families, friends and loved ones, are the reason that I have marched over 750 miles since 2016. My legs aren’t thanking me now, but knowing the extraordinary amount of money we’ve raised will fund life-saving research so that in years to come, prostate cancer will be a disease that men and their families need not fear, certainly eases the pain.”

Walking Football Scotland have asked member groups and participants to fund-raise for our charity partner Prostate Cancer UK.

WFS Chair, Gary McLaughlin agreed to do his bit and raise funds for the charity by joining Jeff in his March for Men and walk the 26 miles alongside him.

The event was well organised and Gary enjoyed some great banter and camaraderie on the long march, very similar to that experienced and enjoyed by walking footballers at their weekly sessions.

WFS have been amazed at the way our member groups and participants have engage with fundraising and Gary has been delighted to raise £840 and would like to thank everyone for their support.

Gary McLaughlin said:

“Prostate Cancer UK is our Charity partner and the connections to walking around some of the finest football stadiums in my home country, could not be closer to my heart, or the ethos of Walking Football Scotland. Adding to the fact that Prostate Cancer is the most common cancer in men, I was proud to be raising awareness and funds for this worthwhile charity and delighted at the way WFS clubs engaged in fundraising.”

A few of Jeff’s celebrity friends joined in and walked alongside the group chatting and adding to the fun and experience for all the walkers. The route was well planned and although at times challenging the Prostate Cancer team had everything covered to make this as comfortable as possible. The group were taken to places that would they would not normally see and quickly realised that there is so much beauty in and around Glasgow.

Mixed emotions, from the football clubs hospitality to the humbling experience, when you realise you are walking with some fantastically positive people with terminal Prostate cancer.

This focused the mind on what we were about; awareness and fundraising for research into this dreadful disease.

Prostate cancer has overtaken breast cancer and is now the third biggest cancer killer in the UK.

Prostate Cancer UK has been funding research into prostate cancer since the 1990's and we've seen a lot of advances in that time. There is still a lot more to be done, but research is already making a difference to men’s lives and their families.

In the UK, about 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives.

In Scotland More than 3,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in Scotland.

Around 900 men die from prostate cancer every year in Scotland.