John Parkinson lives in Bishopthorpe and for most of his working life worked in insurance, including a stint at General Accident where he latterly worked as an operations director
Now the 70-year-old will be spending nearly three months on the road walking 1,100 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats this Spring. He is raising money for St Leonard’s Hospice after his wife, Angie, died at the Tadcaster Road hospice last September.
“The hospice is a haven of peace and I’m eternally grateful for how they cared for her,” said John, who can often be found working at his son’s record shop Vinyl Eddie also in Tadcaster Road, not far from the hospice.
“When someone told me that only 25 percent of their funding comes from the Government, I knew I had to do something.
"I thought, what can a 70-year-old bloke do to reasonably ask people to give for? So, it’ll just be me and my rucksack. This walk has been on my bucket list so when I got the opportunity, I thought I’d raise money doing it."John is aiming to walk about 17 miles a day on average and said: “I should be finished in early July – that’s quite fast for an oldie. I’m going to give it my best shot.”
“I’m too old to tent it.” said John, who has booked accommodation on the route and is currently putting together a playlist to keep him company.
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