A MAN who has channelled the pain of cancer in his family into positive action against the disease is again in the running for a Pride of Britain Award.

For a second consecutive year Mark Solan, of Spennymoor, County Durham, has been nominated in the ITV Local Fundraiser of the Year category of the national awards.

The 43-year-old, who was nominated by the mother of a girl whose funeral he helped plan and pay for, said: “I’m really humbled, happy and proud.

“It’s not why we do it but it is nice to be recognised for the work we’re doing.”

Last year’s nomination followed his participation in a sponsored Ultra White Collar Boxing match in which he raised an event record breaking £22,000 for Cancer Research UK.

Using the momentum of that event he launched the Solan Connor Fawcett Family Cancer Trust to raise money so he could help people in his home town and surrounding area who are suffering because of cancer.

To date he has raised around £60,000, including the boxing match, opened a boutique on Spennymoor High Street to raise funds and as a base for the trust and is working towards charitable status.

He is proud that the trust has helped around 100 people with cancer, up to 1,000 when their relatives that also get help are considered.

He said: “The first time was amazing after I broke that record but this time I’ve done more with it, been personally involved in helping people.

“It is not just about raising money but helping mum get a wig, buying grandma flowers, mum a food processor, a mobility scooter or reclining chair, sending a family on holiday and helping with the heartache and cost of burying a child.

“I’m sorting a wig for a woman who is losing her distinctive curly hair because of cancer treatment. She told me recently that for the last year or so she’s put all her spare change in the trust’s tin and never thought she’d turn to us for help, to be able to do that is beautiful.

“I get touching messages all the time, a woman text me to thank me for giving her friend some glamour at a time her body is ravaged after I arranged a makeover and day out for her after a terminal diagnosis.”

He is working with Wetherspoons’ Grand Electric Hall pub, in Spennymoor, to organise a family fun day on Saturday, September 3, when the families of around seven poorly children will be VIPs.

Mr Solan narrowly missed out on the prize in 2015 and said he would like to win the regional award - perhaps more than the overall prize - because the profile and publicity would enable the trust to do more.