The first Great Scottish Walk in Glasgow will take place this May, it was announced yesterday. The popular family event attracted 6000 participants and raised £1m for charity when it was held in Edinburgh last year.

The first Great Scottish Walk in Glasgow will take place this May, it was announced yesterday.

The popular family event attracted 6000 participants and raised £1m for charity when it was held in Edinburgh last year.

This year organisers are branching out to include Glasgow, with a leafy route which takes in five of the city's parks.

Those included in the scenic 12-mile route are Pollok Country Park, Bellahouston Park, Queens Park, Maxwell Park and Newlands Park.

For the less active, shorter routes of six miles and one mile are also available, with all routes beginning and ending at Bellahouston Park's Palace of Art.

Walkers and supporters will be treated to entertainment along the way, finishing with a carnival party.

The walkers will be led by 14-year-old fundraiser and cystic fibrosis sufferer Kelli Gallagher, winner of the STV bighearted child of the year 2007.

Kelli, a pupil at Vale of Leven Academy in Alexandria, is also a talented dancer and will give a demonstration of Highland dancing on the main stage at both events.

She said: "I'm getting all my friends involved. Instead of walking the route, we're going to dance it.

"Twelve miles won't seem like hard work if we're laughing and having fun.

"I want to show people that having an illness like mine is not be a barrier - anyone can do this."

The money she raises will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, which funds research into gene therapy for CF patients.

Lord Provost Robert Winter said: "Kelli is a remarkable girl. She is an example to us all. If somebody like Kelli can be so vivacious, fit and active then surely the rest of us can be inspired to be the same."

Priscilla Turner, organiser of Great Scottish Walks, said: "The walk circuits are designed to take in the city's leafiest parks and to provide a varied route to the walkers across the city.

"They are simultaneously supporting healthy living and offer the public the opportunity to be actively involved in beneficial health activities, community events and charitable fundraising, regardless of fitness and physical ability.

"Inclusivity is one of the keys to the event's continued success, promoted to all sections of the community particularly encouraging groups, teams and families to walk."

The event, sponsored by Scottish Slimmers, takes place on May 25, while a shorter Great Wee Scottish Walk will also take place in Glasgow on May 11.

More than 2000 walkers took part in Great Wee Scottish Walk events across Scotland last year.