Helensburgh has been thanked for its warm welcome after runners gathered in the town to set off on a 220km relay challenge for charity last weekend.

The Relay Across Scotland event, hosted by TRIBE Freedom Foundation and Ultra X, saw 140 runners take on the John Muir Way within 24 hours.

Leaving from Kidston Park on Friday afternoon, participants entered in teams of four or eight and divided the distance between themselves.

Community and fundraising manager Julia Heward said: “We’re really grateful to be able to host this event in Helensburgh – it’s such a beautiful place.

“Lots of locals came up and said hello, so we really appreciate the warm welcome.

“We had a couple of local teams who live on the route, so it was nice to welcome them on to the challenge.”

Travelled from all over

Those who took part drove to check points to meet their fellow runners upon completion of each stage, exchanging trackers so the next team member could continue the effort.

Teams with four members completed four legs each, with the eight-person groups taking on two stretches per runner.

Participants travelled from all over the UK, with some even making the trip from Canada and America.

With further donations expected to be received in the coming days, the event’s fundraising total currently sits just below its target of £50,000.

The money will go towards supporting projects which are working to tackle modern slavery.

These include Ella’s, an organisation which provides safe houses in London for victims of trafficking, and Justice in Care - a charity which rescues victims and seeks to bring traffickers to court.

Julia added: “It makes a huge difference because the rate of modern slavery is sadly going up due to the current economic climate.

“Our awareness is also getting better, but that means that we’re unfolding this huge web of issues within the UK.

“Roughly 136,000 people are in modern slavery in the UK, and that’s just the known cases.

“It’s expected that there’s a lot more than that, which is quite a terrifying statistic.”

Donations are still being accepted and can be made at just giving.com/tribefreedomfoundation.