A large group of family and friends of well-known Darlington man Mark Scarr who lost his life to cancer is taking on a 26-mile charity trek.
The Mighty Hike Scarr group which numbers 15 family and friends including Mark’s widow Christine has smashed their target for the event contributing to the £26,000 total donations raised so far for Macmillan since Mark’s untimely death from liver cancer in February 2020.
They will walk from Alnwick Castle to Bamburgh Castle on July 16 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Christine Scarr, who got together with Mark in 2010, said: “This area is particularly close to my heart as Mark and I spent our honeymoon in Alnmouth and went there for a holiday every year.
“All the places in Northumberland the Scarr Mighty Hike group will walk through have fabulous memories for us. I know it will be a little overwhelming and emotional though.”
Mark, 55, went for a check-up at his local GP in 2019 at the encouragement of Christine because he hadn’t been for one for over 30 years; at that stage he had no symptoms at all.
Read more: Family raise thousands in memory of Darlington businessman
Tragically, following abnormal results from blood tests leading to further tests, he was soon diagnosed with life-limiting liver cancer. Mark died on 20 February 2020 leaving devoted wife Christine, his children, close family, and friends and all who knew him devastated.
Christine said: “It has been some comfort to me and Mark’s family and friends that we’ve been able to channel our grief into fundraising for the charity that took such good care of him toward the end of his life and provided invaluable support to us as a family dealing with the trauma of it all.”
The Scarr family and friends have dedicated themselves to fundraising for Macmillan with cake sales, World’s Biggest Coffee Mornings at the Devonport Hotel where Mark’s daughter Rebecca works, a Yorkshire Dales Macmillan Mighty Hike, a golf day at Darlington Golf Club and many other activities.
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