MORE than 450 walkers took to the streets of Ayr and Prestwick

on Saturday for the 11th annual Ayrshire Hospice Land o’ Burns Starlight Walk.

The pre-walk entertainment was provided by talented MC and DJ Colin McArdle and music duo Vice Versa, while Claire Houston of Motiv8 Fitness got the walkers warmed up before sending them off at 10pm from Ayr Racecourse, accompanied by Maybole Pipe Band. An army of volunteer stewards were once again on hand to marshal the 13, 9 or 4 mile routes, which headed out to Prestwick for the first time.

Making sure walkers were safe along the way was the fantastic team from Blue Knights motorcycle group. Domino’s Ayr provided volunteers and staff with some tasty pre-walk pizza.

With the new route, it was a new halfway mark and star stop at Ayr Town Hall where walkers were greeted with hot soup donated by The Cook School Scotland and refreshments from Tesco, kindly distributed by their Ayrshire stores Community Champions.

They were joined by acts from the Glasgow Circus School Ariel Edge team. Local band Goodfellows laid on musical entertainment to keep walkers motivated.

Graeme Strawhorn, Senior Fundraising Officer said “The Starlight Walk is always a very special night for the Ayrshire Hospice and we are always astounded by the amazing atmosphere within the Ayrshire Suite as our walkers prepare to venture out and pound the streets in aid of our cause.”