LIKE any other teenage girl, Natasha Stevens loves fashionable clothes. Her mobile phone is her best friend and the time is looming when she needs to decide on her career.
That would be fine, except the clothes she chooses never quite match, her text messages are becoming too difficult to read and her dream of becoming a doctor looks doomed.
At just 14 years old, Natasha is staring at a lifetime in the dark – the r
esult of a rare condition that is slowly stealing her sight. Eventually the Newbattle High School pupil will almost certainly go blind.
"She's worried sick about losing her sight," says her mum, Eileen. "She tries not to think about it but it's always there – the fear that she will eventually go blind.It's not fair but it's just the way it is."
The teenager had become withdrawn and unhappy until Eileen stumbled across support in the shape of a young people's group run by the Royal National Institute for the Blind. Now, with the help of friends who understand her problem, Natalie is learning to be a real teenager – mixing with other teens, planning adventure holidays and even managing to laugh with her mum over the unfortunate colour clashes in her wardrobe.
"Without the group I'd have a teenager who never left her bedroom," says Eileen, of Mayfield in Dalkeith. "It's transformed all our lives."
That's why, on June 22, Natalie and Eileen will join hundreds of fundraisers in the city attempting the 12 miles of the Great Scottish Walk – each determined to raise money for charity.
Walkers will include Glasgow Airport terror attack hero John "Smeato" Smeaton – supporting a cystic fibrosis sufferer who is taking part in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust – and a brave Belarusian girl raising money to help children like her receive respite care. They will take part in either a one mile stroll or walks of six or 12 miles.
Natasha was diagnosed with eye problems when she was only seven. Eventually retina pigmentosa, cone and rod dystrophy, night blindness and photophobia were pinpointed– conditions which will cause her vision to deteriorate as she gets older. The centre part of Natasha's eyesight is black at present, and she can only see with peripheral vision.
Eileen says: "What drives her crazy is she doesn't know for sure if and when her sight will go. She puts on a brave face but there are times when she gets very low."
Eileen and Natasha will be among a crowd of walkers raising money for the RNIB. The charity has put together a team of 84 walkers to cover 500 miles at the various Great Scottish Walks around the country.
They are being spurred on by The Proclaimers, and have adopted the duo's trademark black-rimmed glasses.
"Doing the walk is just our way of saying thank you and letting more people know about the work the RNIB does," adds Eileen.
Little Anna Manhush's reasons for the walk are deeply personal too. She comes from Belarus, where the streets around her home are contaminated, the food she eats may do her more harm then good and playtime usually means staying indoors.
The nine-year-old will tackle the six-mile stretch with the Edinburgh family who have taken her into their home for a month of respite care. Her aim is to help raise money for the charity that brought her here – in the hope she may return next year.
Although it is 22 years since the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl affected Anna's home town of Mogilev – it will be a further 24,000 years before the area is clear of contamination.
Respite for the city's children comes from the Edinburgh West branch of Friends of Chernobyl's Children, which this month brought 25 children like Anna to the Capital.
"Children like Anna have very hard lives," says Heidi Grant, a fundraiser with the charity.
"Anna lives with her parents and two older sisters in a very simple apartment block – the family sleep in the same room. The contamination means it's not safe for her to go outside to play, so she is missing out on a lot of things children here take for granted.
"While she is fine physically just now, no-one knows what the future could bring for her and her friends."
But with the cost of bringing each child from Belarus to Edinburgh soaring each year – £500 per child this year – funds are needed to ensure the vital respite care continues. Which is why Anna and her host family – Douglas McIntosh, Tracey Shields and daughter Katrina – will join the Great Scottish Walk on a fundraising drive to raise money for the charity.
More than 6000 walkers are expected to follow the route, which leaves from Meadowbank and takes in the Old Town, Princes Street and Leith. Before the big event next Sunday, this weekend's Wee Scottish Walk will take place, when hundreds of children will head to Fettes to take part in a junior version on Sunday.
Organiser Priscilla Turner says: "It is absolutely amazing to see the walk keep growing year after year, and I think the great thing about it is everyone can take part, regardless of their fitness levels or age. It is a real family event and I think that is why it continues to be so well supported."
Tribute to rugby coachJOINING the Great Scottish Walk will be 108 competitors inspired by brave Stewart's Melville PE teacher and rugby coach, Grant Mackenzie, who lost his battle against a brain tumour earlier this month, aged 39.
School colleagues, partners and friends will be taking part in the walk to raise money for Maggie's Edinburgh at the Western General Hospital, which helped him through his illness and is continuing to support his young family.
Jill Roxburgh, a family friend and colleague who will be among the walkers, says it's a fitting tribute to the young sportsman, who died just 11 weeks after being diagnosed.
"When Grant was first diagnosed and we found out he was using the Maggie's centre, we decided it would be good to raise money for them.
"But now that Grant has sadly lost his battle, the walk and our fundraising have taken on a whole new dimension. He will be very much in our thoughts on the day.
"Among those taking part will be teachers, colleagues, friends of the school and people who know him through Stewart's Melville rugby club.
"I expect it will be a very emotional day."
The walkers will cover the six miles of the Great Scottish Walk route.
BEST FOOT FORWARD WHATEVER THE ROUTETHE Great Scottish Walk is split into four categories – a Wee Walk for children, a Golden Mile, six miles or the full 12-mile route for the fitter, more energetic fundraisers.
The Wee Walk for children is held this Sunday at Fettes College.
The Edinburgh Great Scottish Walk is the following Sunday, June 22, when hundreds of walkers are expected to pound the city's streets.
The city centre route covers 12 miles and takes in Meadowbank Stadium, Holyrood Park, the Old Town, Princes Street and Leith before returning to Meadowbank.
For details of how to take part, go to ||WEBSTART||www.greatscottish- walk.com.
