Walking means so much more to Ade than just exercise and a chance to enjoy the outdoors, it’s been therapy that’s helped her through the most difficult times.
Her dad was in the army so she’s lived in a lot of different places all over the world, taking on new adventures, going for walks and family have been constants in Ade’s life.
Ade moved to Scotland from Nigeria in 2022, joining her two sisters. The outdoors soon became her place of solace when her immediate younger sister Doja, sadly passed away in a Marie Curie hospice.
Hiking was a passion she shared with Doja, while she was grieving Ade found going long walks by herself to be therapeutic and something that gave her a feeling of connection with her sister.
Ade explained: “I’ve been a hiker all my life. Adventures have always been something that I’ve done, either by myself or with my sister before she died.
“I was so close to my sister. Wherever we went in the world people would ask if we were twins, we looked so alike.
"We used to go on walks together so I feel a connection to my sister when I’m out for walks. Staying active was the way I dealt with it.
“When my sister passed, I immersed myself in my fitness life, that was my grief outlet. Boxing, walking, going to the gym. I used to walk 20km every day. It was too much, but it was just grief. I was weak, because my body couldn’t keep enough calories.
“I was going through menopause at the time as well, which was driving me crazy. I used to wake up at 3am every day and then I would go for walks for two or three hours.
“I’ve got osteoarthritis in both knees. Hiking is a bit of defiance, the pain at nights after walks is quite bad but In the words of Bon Jovi, I just want to live while I’m alive.”
Fitness is a passion of Ade’s, she boxes at Xcite Craigswood, regularly visits the gym and goes to dance classes. In most of the sports environments she has experienced in Scotland she has been the only black person.
While Ade says she has never been made to feel anything other than welcome in those environments, the community feel of Black Scottish Adventurers helped her to open up and engage with others on her walks having been quite insular previously, enjoying her own company and her connection to her sister on walks.
The Black Scottish Adventurers are a community that bring people together to experience the Scottish outdoors, no matter their background. They remove barriers for those who want to connect with nature and help improve people’s physical and mental wellbeing through exploring and having fun.
“I tried to join another walking group. I was the only black person. They tried so hard to make me feel welcome, they were so nice but I would honestly have been fine being left. It almost made me feel a bit uncomfortable that they made a bit of a fuss of me so I didn’t stay with them.
“I had been quite happy going my walks by myself. But Black Scottish Adventurers is more of a community, and when I break into a dance they don’t think I’m crazy. I break into dance when I’m really tired, the dance is sort of my rest.
“I’m 51, I’m not the oldest person in Black Scottish Adventurers. Older women, especially menopausal women, think there are things that aren’t for us. But the outdoors is for everyone, it’s the only fully inclusive space.
“Josh would always remember me as the one who got to the summit before everyone else. Because I wasn’t yet ready to interact with others. I was concentrating on the nature around me and I was feeling a connection with my sister.
“The turning point was February 2023, I was finally in a place where I could engage with people at that point.”
