An Edinburgh woman is set to run 150 miles to help out an Indian friend she met when she was a tour leader in Dehli.
46-year-old Caroline Williams is aiming to complete the run from King Robert the Bruce’s caves near Gretna to North Wales, in just six days.
She hopes to raise more than £6,000 to buy an auto rickshaw - a motorised carriage known in India as a "tuk-tuk" for the noise it makes - for her friend Champu.
Caroline said: “I first met Champu while travelling in Delhi ten years ago. I was walking down the road trying my best to ignore all of the begging street kids, as we had been advised to do by our tour guides, when this little guy walked up to me and said something that really made me laugh.
“I can't recall what it was but I was totally taken with him. He didn't ask me for anything, he just wanted to walk with me and practise his English.
“I asked him if he ever got jealous of the tourists who arrived with pockets full of money, and he said no because he worked a really good corner of the street and he felt lucky that he had a house when others didn't.
“We struck up a friendship and he took me to a lot of the local festivals, and took me to meet his family”
Now a father himself, Champu wants to provide a better life for his own children, a motorised rickshaw could give the family a steady income and a more stable future, but it will take him many years to raise enough money to pay for one.
Caroline said: “Our paths crossing back then provided me with a priceless experience of India and an incredible insight into humanity. I want that crossing of paths to be of practical help to him too. I want to help him buy his rickshaw.”
“With the Commonwealth Games coming to Delhi this year the Indian government have started cracking down hard on the street vendors, so Champu told me he was saving to buy a tuk-tuk.
“He proudly told me he already had the equivalent of £153 saved up, but the cheapest second-hand tuk-tuk costs £3,000 with a new one costing over £6,000 so it would take him a lifetime to save up.
“That's why I decided to raise money to buy him one."
She will run from Scotland to Wales in six days - the equivalent of a marathon every day - despite the fact that she has not run further than 13 miles in her life.
Friends have offered to do their own fund raising events, details of which can be found on the fund raising page.
If you feel you would like to donate please click here.
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