A DETERMINED runner has followed in her dad’s footsteps to raise thousands of pounds for charity by reaching the finish line at the London Marathon.

Erin Scott was cheering on her dad Neil at last year’s iconic event and then found herself among the thousands of runners pounding the streets last weekend.

Erin, 26, has raised more than £2,200 for Our Community Kitchen and thanked the good cause for the impact it had had on her life.

She said: “I started volunteering at Our Community Kitchen in 2019.

“I had a break from university, a year break, and started volunteering there in the summer.

“I have been volunteering ever since and normally when I get holidays from my work I volunteer.

“It started because of an article in the Courier.

“My mum read about Our Community Kitchen and they were looking for volunteers.

“My mental health was why I took a break from university.

“I was quite anxious, quite down, and my mum saw the article and already knew Elaine [Gale, of Our Community Kitchen] from working at Edinburgh College.”

East Lothian Courier: Erin Scott successfully completed the London Marathon in aid of Our Community Kitchen, where she volunteers

The group, which offers people the chance to enjoy a home-cooked meal round the dinner table, meets four times a week at Haddington Bowling Club.

Our Community Kitchen was set up to tackle loneliness and isolation.

Former Knox Academy pupil Erin, who works as an early-years practitioner in Midlothian, felt that she had benefited from volunteering at the good cause.

She said: “I have met so many new people, many people, that go to it and the other volunteers as well.

“It is so beneficial meeting everybody and getting to hear why they volunteer or why they go. It has done so much for my mental health.”

Erin, who lives in Haddington, received the news last summer that she would be one of more than 53,000 people lining up in the London Marathon.

She told the Courier that “right there and then” she decided she would lace up her running shoes in aid of Our Community Kitchen.

And after completing the 26.2-mile course in 4hr37m37s – within four-and-a-half minutes of her dad’s 2023 time – she described the experience.

Erin, who was cheered on by her mum Julie, her dad, twin brother Ben and her grandma, said: “The atmosphere was so amazing.

“I cannot imagine doing a marathon and not having that level of crowd support.

“The noise, the different signs everybody was holding and seeing people and their family as well – it was so heartwarming and quite emotional doing it.

“I was trying to focus on not going too quick – a lot of the advice I got from other runners was not to go out too fast and to keep quite a steady pace throughout the whole thing.”

Elaine Gale, from Our Community Kitchen, was delighted with the volunteer’s efforts.

She said: “Volunteering is so beneficial, to be able to contribute to our local community means such a lot and it’s wonderful that being with us has helped so much.

“We all admire Erin for what she has achieved both in the marathon and also for being open about her difficulties.”

Go to justgiving.com/page/erin-scott-1697721045046 to make a donation.