Octogenarian Inverness-based charity fundraiser Johnnie Baillie recently presented a cheque representing the fruits of eight months’ hard “rowing” to Erskine Veterans Charity.

His herculean efforts on a rowing machine, which raised over £15,000, plus £466 in Gift Aid from the Inland Revenue, provides a significant donation to the  charity’s funds,

Starting in February last year he “rowed” the equivalent of 3,000 miles, from Newfoundland to Scotland – inside the city’s retail park Tesco Store, where he had previously worked for 20 years, in several other Tesco stores, including Elgin, Forres, Inverness, Dingwall and Tain, in Morrison’s Inverness store and Inverness Market.

Former soldier Johnnie, a native of Durness, North West Sutherland aimed for five million metres, at the rate of 5,000 metre strokes a day, and by the time he had reached his 80^th birthday in July, which he spent rowing in Inverness Retail Park Tesco, he had completed around 1,835,000 metres.  He had hoped to row his last mile by canoe to the West Highland coast, but bad weather put an end to this plan.

“Rowing is just about the best exercise you can get,” he declared, “and I thought I might as well use this occasion to do something useful.”

Johnnie’s previous projects have already raised over £11,000 for Erskine.

Erskine fundraiser Jim Watret, who received the cheque, said: “Erskine is fully committed to opening another activity centre in the Forres area and the money that John Baillie has raised from his remarkable rowing challenge will go a long way to fulfilling the services that the veteran community want us to provide for them. Everyone in Erskine applauds John for his sterling efforts over the last few years and we can but wait to see what his next challenge is.”

To find out more about Erskine Veterans Charity’s work please visit our website at www.erskine.org.uk, follow on twitter @ErskineCharity via Facebook www.facebook.com/ErskineVeteransCharity or listen to Erskine Veterans Radio at Erskine.org.uk/radio

To donate directly to Erskine, please visit Erskine.org.uk/donate.