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Get fit by Supporting Forces Children Scotland

Gary Seath 1 month ago

Fundraising Media
Get Fit and Support Forces Children Scotland

With the festive season in full swing, enjoy those wonderful mince pies, and everything else, with added freedom and joy this year by committing to a fundraising fitness challenge in support of Forces Children Scotland in 2025.

Combine fitness with kindness by participating in our #ForcesChildScotFit campaign. Together, let’s raise funds to empower and support children and young people from armed forces and veteran families across Scotland to realise their potential and thrive.

There’s lots of challenge events to choose from – if you don’t fancy the Kiltwalk, Edinburgh Marathon Festival or Supernova 10K, you can always come up with your own personal fitness challenge too!

Why Get Fit for a Cause?

Staying active doesn’t just benefit your body and mind – it can also create ripples of meaningful change for over 13,000 children and young people from armed forces communities across Scotland.

Everyone needs that added motivation to get out there on those cold, wet and rainy nights in January!

Here’s what your hard work, dedication, and commitment will achieve:

  • Delivery of face-to-face and digital mental health & wellbeing services, to help understand a range of topics and to adopt effective strategies.
  • Delivery of youth participation activities that build confidence, develop new skills, expand horizons, and help to make new friends.
  • Supporting this community in standing up for their rights and amplifying their lived experiences to policymakers to achieve meaningful change.
  • Assisting professionals enhance understanding and practice to meet the unique support needs of this community through accredited CPD training.
  • Providing financial help for young carers, students, and families from armed forces and veterans communities to cover many of life’s essentials.
Listen to Ruari’s fundraising story

Ruari Barbour Smith laced up his running shoes to take on the Men’s 10K Edinburgh Event earlier this year, raising £1K in support of Forces Children Scotland.

Listen to Ruari’s fundraising story

Find out more about what inspired Ruari to get involved in supporting Forces Children Scotland.

Ruari goes further to provide three top tips for others thinking about taking on a challenge fundraising event.

“My top three tips for running a 10K would be, firstly, during the race, just keep going because once you stop it’s really hard to get going again. It doesn’t matter what pace it is, even if you have to drop down to quite almost walking pace, as long as you’re still running, one foot in front of the other, it’s fine.

Secondly, I’ve found in previous races, nutrition is really important. So the days before, the day of, and during the race, what you eat and drink has a big difference. So in my Ironman race in July, I completely messed up my nutrition. It bit me, it came back to bite me, just with cramp and other issues.

And then my third piece of advice would be prehab, it’s really important. So when you’re training, especially if it’s a distance you’re not used to, it’s a big step up, that can put extra stress on your body that you’re not used to. Strength training, in combination with your running training, will improve you a lot in how you perform and it just prevents you from getting injured and it limits your injury potential.”

How to Get Involved
  1. Visit our challenge fundraising webpage – We have lots of challenge events to choose from to suit all ages and abilities.
  2. Set Your Challenge: Choose an activity that motivates you. Run a marathon, organize a fitness class, or simply commit to walking 10,000 steps a day.
  3. Raise Funds: Create a fundraising page, on platforms like Just Giving, and share your journey with family and friends. Every little bit helps!
  4. Spread the Word: Share your progress on social media using the hashtag #ForcesChildScotFit. Inspire others to join in!

 

Ready to start? Visit our fundraising challenges webpage to sign up and learn more. Together, we can transform lives—one step at a time.

We’ll also help you get started on social media, send over a free fundraising t-shirt and explore all ways of maximising publicity and fundraising too!