Lincoln man walks to Manchester with mum’s ashes, raising £12k for charity

A Lincolnshire man who lost his mum and two other relatives to cancer has raised nearly £12,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support after walking from Lincoln to Manchester.

Lee Parkinson, 32, journeyed on foot from the Black Swan pub in Lincoln to Old Trafford football ground in Manchester over a distance of 103 miles with a group of friends, surpassing his £10,000 target in donations.

You can donate to Lee’s ‘United Against Cancer’ page here.

They set off Wednesday, August 3 and arrived on Saturday, August 6 ready to watch the first game of the season the following day.

Lee saw his world upended when his mum Karen succumbed to throat cancer at the age of just 53 on March 17 2020.

Only two months later his grandad, Benjamin Beswick, 82, died of lung cancer on May 29, 2020. Earlier this year Ben’s partner, and Lee’s nan, Judy, died of bone cancer at the age of 78 on May 26, 2022.

Lee took four friends along with him on the challenge – Dale Sayce, Lee ‘Giggsy’ Borril, Gaz Wright and Dale Wilkes along with support driver Darren Elkington.

Dale also lost his mum to cancer just before Christmas.

Lee out in the summer heat with his friends [Dale Wilkes pictured centre] walking from Lincoln to Manchester.

He said: “In the last two and a bit years I’ve lost four family members. My brother, my mum, my grandad and then my Nan.

“All, apart from my brother, had each battled cancer twice. It put me in a dark place and only recently I’ve managed to pick myself up and move forward.

“One night in the pub a couple of mates and I came up with an idea of doing something good in their memory. We decided to set ourselves a challenge which then evolved into a charity event for Macmillan.

“We would walk from our local pub in Lincoln to the first Man Utd game of the season at Old Trafford.”

He added: “My mum was always fond of Macmillan and had support from them. We wanted to do something my mum would have been proud of.

“If the donations for this challenge can help even just one person and prevent them going through the heartache and pain cancer can cause then it will all have been worth it.

“The walk was honestly the best experience of my life but one of the toughest things I’ve done as well. But Mum was with me all the way.”

Sarah Adwick, Macmillan Fundraising Manager for Lincolnshire, said: “It’s thanks to incredible supporters like Lee and his friends that we can continue funding vital cancer support services in Lincolnshire.

“Right now, people living with cancer need our help more than ever and we want to do whatever it takes to be there for them from the moment of diagnosis.

“The group’s amazing fundraising effort gets us one step closer to achieving our goal, so thank you!”

Lee and the group covered 103 miles between the two cities.

Lee and company finally arrive at their destination at Old Trafford stadium, Manchester.