AFTER celebrating its tenth anniversary recently, Durness Village Hall was as busy as ever last weekend when more than 40 members of the community came together to face a challenge.
This was to cycle around the Sutherland county boundary in 24 hours – without leaving the Village Hall! In other words, on an exercise bike.
North Coast Leisure Centre kindly loaned a bike for the weekend, which provided an opportunity for the challenge to take place regardless of the weather. The attempt was successful with a total of 347 miles being cycled, an estimated one and a half times around Sutherland.
The event invited people to cycle one or more fifteen-minute slots at their own pace. Starting the challenge was Donald Morrison, a keen cyclist who organises the annual Marty Mackay Memorial charity cycle ride.
Following Donald were the younger members of the community who were attending the busy Youth Club Fusion session with friends from neighbouring areas.
The slots were fully booked with several people returning throughout the day and night, keen to cycle some more and to support other participants. Volunteers provided refreshments, while DVDs and music helped the cyclists make it through the night.
Lands End to John O’ Groats cyclist Neil Fuller tested the bike to its limits and, as the final seconds approached, John Miller put in a final burst of energy closing the event in style. The weekend was staged to raise awareness of the Durness Health Hub project which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the residents of the Parish of Durness by promoting a more active lifestyle.
Central to the project is the development of a fitness room and the introduction of a range of new activities both indoors and outdoors aimed at people of every level of fitness.
Local Development Officer, Kevin Arrowsmith, said: "This is an ambitious project and it’s really inspiring to see people come together to offer their support.
"We think it is really important to get the message across that everybody, regardless of age or level of fitness, can improve their own health by exercising regularly and it’s never too late to start. It was encouraging this weekend to see people who hadn’t been on a bike for years taking part alongside more experienced cyclists."
The cycling was followed by a well attended Bingo night with refreshments which, in the spirit of the weekend, included a selection of fresh fruit which proved very popular.
A "guess the total distance" competition, was won, quite appropriately, by one of the cyclists, Meg Campbell. In total, £413 was raised towards the Health Hub fund.
Due to the continued enthusiasm shown in the project, and by popular demand, Lucy Mackay has been dragged out of retirement to lead aerobic sessions on Tuesday evenings and a range of other events are being arranged including a roadshow in partnership with North
Coast Leisure Centre providing a chance to try a range of new activities.
More information on the Health Hub project and forthcoming events can be found in the "Active Durness" section at www.developingdurness.org
