England’s women might have won the Euro championships, but Scotland has just crowned its first national Tree-hugging champion. The Inaugural Scottish Hugging Championship was held on July 22nd at Ardtornish as part of the Morvern Games and Gala Week. Organised by Darach Social Croft and An Darach Forest Therapy, the competition attracted twenty-four competitors, double the number the organisers had anticipated.

There were three events on the programme; speed hugging, where competitors had to hug as many trees in a specified area in a minute, with each hug lasting a minimum of five seconds, dedication, where participants had to hug a tree for up to a minute in a way that showed presence, intention, love, and respect, and freestyle, where entrants were required to demonstrate the most inventive way to hug a tree, again for no more than a minute.

The winner was Alasdair Firth, who was dressed appropriately in a leaf-covered camouflage suit and lives in a woodland croft in Rhemore on the Morvern peninsula.

The event was held in association with the World Tree Hugging Championships held annually in the HaliPuu Forest in Levi, in Finland. This year’s championship will be held on August 20^th and is one I shall follow closely.

To watch the Scottish event, clink the link below