Aviemore's Deeply Dippy Mark raises ten times his target in Strathpey's icy waters
Aviemore charity fundraising star Mark Allan has completed his epic 30-day dips into the strath’s iciest waters in aid of Highlands suicide prevention project Mikeysline.
As he emerged from his last total cold water exposure test on Wednesday morning, in the middle of nowhere up the Burma Road, he modestly avoided any triumphalism, instead admitting that he simply felt humbled.
Mr Allan said: “I just cannot believe the support I’ve received since the Strathy first announced my determination to complete the course for a truly great cause all that time ago – a world ago!
“I honesty thought I would chip in for the great work done by Mikeysline to the tune of about £250, and perhaps raise the awareness of depression in the Highlands, but the reaction has taken my breath away – far more than any of the dips I’ve taken!”
Locals, and some not so local, have gladly put their hands in their pockets for the heroic effort Mr Allan has put in, with a different location chosen every day in the strath, normally after a bracing run.
At the latest count he had sailed past the £2000 mark, with joinery firm Howdens confirming they had donated £250 to the helpline, based in the Highland capital, to show their solidarity with the selfless gesture from a man who has committed himself to so many causes over the years.
“All these supporters have been just amazing,” said Mr Allan, after he had dried himself, and got his lungs fully open again after yet another bracing swim.
It is not just financial support either that has flowed in.
As his regular social media posts had shown, often through chilling and dramatic live footage, many of his friends have turned out over the course of the past month to share something of the experience.
None of them have – wisely – stayed immersed anything like as long as Mark.
He said: “They were a well of huge moral support for me, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.”
One of the latter dips even included his partner Kerry Hawkins.
Mr Allan said: “She said she would do one of the last ones and she did. She was really brave because as well as facing the freezing cold, Kerry has a fear of things in the water, and she had already had a fright in Loch Morlich in the summer with a few eels.
“So it was a double challenge for her, but she did it!
“I simply wouldn’t have managed this challenge without her support. At times when I have not fancied it, or was questioning myself, she encouraged and gave me belief in myself to keep going."
Donations can still be made here