Chris Jones from Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire, a member of the Free Wheelers Motorcycle Lodge and the Round Table Lodge, said it was November last year when this young man in his Minecraft top ran after him in the street in the village of Deganwy near Conwy to give him a pound coin. Chris wanted him to know how grateful he was for his donation. Said Chris:
“I felt he deserved to know that he had helped me towards my fundraising target of £100,000 to support the charity that not only saved my life when I was contemplating suicide but is able to go on doing the same thing for others every day, thanks to the generosity of people like him.”
The day in November had been a rainy and horrible morning, and as he crossed the street, this young chap ran up the street from behind him. Chris looked around to work out why he was alone in the street in his PJs and saw a group of faces in the upstairs window of a house waving – presumably his mum and his siblings. That really moved Chris, who was far from home, and this little fellow had obviously seen him walking up the road from his window.
That particular donation was one of the seven-pound coins given to him by children on his travels, all of which have been given to the Freemasons’ charity, the MCF, which had put him in touch with a counselling service when he was at his lowest ebb.
Chris will be home for Christmas, by which time he will have raised a significant proportion of his original £100,000 target. He hopes to be able to get the remainder by writing a book about his journey, ‘On The Edge’.
Chris started his walk in Skegness on the east coast on New Year’s Day 2023, when he walked almost 6,300 miles, worn out six pairs of boots, carried a 35kg pack throughout his journey, slept indoors in beds when they were offered, and wild camped when they weren’t.
He said the conversations he’d had on his travels had highlighted the extent of the struggles so many people were having with their mental health. “If you’re struggling, your first step must be to ask for help,” he said. “There’s no shame in that, and it will turn your life around, just as it has mine.”
