Congratulation to members of Macduff Parish Church Guild who raised thousands of pounds for charity by taking part in a "virtual" sponsored walk to Bethlehem. They had set out to collectively cover 2,520 miles, which is the equivalent distance from the town to Jesus' birthplace, during the run-up to Christmas.

Initially, the distance was going to be shared between 20 enthusiastic Guild members but friends and family got involved, with one person based in the USA and another from Belgium joining in.

In the end, around 8,000 miles were covered and they raised £2,600, which will go towards supporting different projects including a local food bank and some of our Guild projects.

The idea came about when the group was trying to create a fundraising activity that would work despite the pandemic and something people could do safely as individuals.

Those taking part would send regular updates to one another, so although they were not able to walk with each other they could share their experiences together.

Macduff Guild member, Jenny Tait, said: "The whole event tied in closely with our theme of 'One Journey Many Roads' and gave us a real sense of purpose and companionship which encouraged us all during this difficult time.

"We used phones, we used FitBits - it was fun and caught people's imaginations."

Huge congratulations and thanks to everyone involved. Is this something your Guild could do? Where could you try and walk to?