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Tumultuous applause and a standing ovation rewarded Chris Jones when he was given a unique certificate to recognise that no-one has raised more than him for the Freemasons’ charity the MCF.
But the certificate will soon have to be thrown away and updated, says Howard Wilson, MCF Trustee and Chair of the Fundraising Committee, who presented it. He said: “Earlier this week we printed one saying he’d raised £75,000; today I have one saying £80,000, and already he’s exceeded that.”
Howard explained what Chris’s fundraising efforts meant to the charity. He said: “We have started helping children suffering with mental health issues; the money Chris has raised by completing this walk means he has single-handedly covered the cost of that work for two years. It’s a magnificent achievement.”
Chris brought his two-year walk around the entire coastline of mainland Britain, and some of its islands, to a close with a finale event at the Doubletree by Hilton in Lincoln, during which he shared details of some of the privations involved in walking almost 6,500 miles – such as the discovery that clotted cream and his digestive system aren’t the best of friends. Said Chris: “Lots of places are closing public toilets. It wasn’t a happy time.”
The talk, attended by about 100 people, was followed by an auction raising more than £3,000 towards his ambition to raise £100,000. Up for auction were ‘unbuyable’ gifts Chris had been given during his travels, such as a bottle of port signed by every one of the yeoman wardens at the Tower of London, and spirits produced exclusively for the SAS and Special Boat Squadron.
Said Chris: “We’ve drawn a line under the walk now. It’s time to move on and do something else.” That said, he has already signed up for 15 talks to Lodges about his adventures, and is working on a book which he hopes will help others who might be undergoing the same mental health anguish which led him to pull on his boots and set off from Skegness on New Year’s Day 2023. He said: “I’d intended just to set off on my own with no sort of fuss; it didn’t work out quite like that…”
