TWO sponsored walks in support of the Ainslie Mitchell Fund have so far raised over £800 between them.

The money raised from both events will go towards Ainlsie who is fighting cancer. The 18-year-old needs to raise £20,000 for life-saving treatment in Cuba.

A dozen people walked 12.8miles from Morrisons in Stevenston to the Rowan Tree on Sunday, July 23. The event was organised by Catherine Edgar, who is the mother of Ainslie’s partner Kieran Dickson.

Another sponsored walk also took place the day before. Children and adults took part in the Cuban-themed event, which was planned by KirstyAnn Walker.

Catherine, who works at Morrisons in Stevenston, told the Herald: “It was good. We were all done in afterwards though! It did rain a wee bit as we were heading into the Rowantree, but we had mostly good weather.

“We don’t know how much we’ve raised yet – one woman’s got £140, another £135 – they’re all over the place. Maureen Donnelly did a bake raffle at her work. She’s works with council as a carer at the council. She made £96.

“We also took a bucket with us and we collected £49.13 just walking along. It was one of the lassies that suggested we bring a bucket. I’d never thought of that.

“A car stopped and the man rolled down the window and a wee lassie in the back handed us a fiver. She must have been about four or five, God love her. A lovely wee lassie.”

Catherine added that Ainslie has been humbled by the generosity of the local community.

She said: “How good are the public when you need them? It’s been overwhelming for her. She can’t thank everyone enough.”

Talking about the other sponsored walk, Kirsty-Ann said: “It went absolutely brilliant. We got a grand total of £432, but we’ve still more to come.

“That was from the pubs in Saltcoats and Kilwinning and passers-by in their cars.

“It started raining halfway through, just at Kilwinning Fire Station. It started bucketing down. But everyone carried on and we still had a lot of fun.

“We want to thank everyone who donated. Also thanks to Lucky from Stevenston Keystore for the 24 pack of water.”