Mark first decided to raise money for The Christie Charity after several people close to him had cancer. His friend Daz had kidney cancer in March 2023 and had surgery for this at The Christie. Although he later died from a heart issue, Mark was grateful for his friend’s treatment at the hospital.
Sadly, Mark’s sister also died after being treated on and off in the United States for 14 years for different cancers. Mark’s brother-in-law Peter also had surgery for kidney cancer at The Christie in March 2024.
Mark had his own health problems after having a kidney removed in April 2023. He said this made it hard to walk very far without getting tired.
Sick of being immobile, Mark decided to take on a mammoth 1,000,001 steps walking challenge. He said this worked out at roughly 475 miles and he chose the number because there were 'a million and one' reasons he wanted to talk to his sister and Daz again. He decided he would raise money for The Christie Charity as he found it cathartic to help a worthwhile cause.
By October 2024, Mark said he was still struggling to walk more than 2 or 3 miles in a day. But eventually, he said stubbornness kicked in, he managed to get going and started losing weight.
After walking a total of 350 miles and receiving encouragement from his Facebook walking group, Mark decided to increase his walking distance to 1,000 miles. He managed to build up a community of supporters who joined him on some of his walking challenges.
One of Mark’s biggest walks so far was from The Christie at Macclesfield to The Christie in Withington, in July 2025. The full route was 16.5 miles, but Mark and his fellow walkers also had a 5.5-mile route and a 1-mile route to encourage walkers of different abilities to join in.
The mayor of Macclesfield even came down to see Mark and his friends off and is keen for them to take the walk on again next year. Mark said that of the 15 people who took on the whole walk, 8 of them had lost family to cancers or associated issues, and all felt a massive feeling of positivity for walking together.
This weekend (17 and 18 October 2025), Mark is going to complete his 1,000-mile walking challenge in style. Starting at Everton Football Club, Mark will walk to Liverpool Football Club, then continue through the night to Manchester United and Manchester City’s grounds, before ending at his home club of Stockport County. This will be around 46.5 miles, and Mark estimates it will take him between 22 and 23 hours.
