Man walking 3,000 miles around the UK for charity

Dickie Mackness is more than 2,000 miles into the epic challenge

A Gloucestershire man aiming to walk 3,400-mile (5,470km) around the UK to raise money for charity, is more than 2,400 miles (3,860km) into his trek and is "going to complete this" despite injuries, he says.

Dickie Mackness, 62, from Lower Swell, near Stow-on-the-Wold, set out on his epic journey in September 2023 and plans to end it this September.

He has so far raised nearly £10,000 for the Evie Dove Foundation, set up in memory of a teenager from Kent who died aged 13 from cancer.

Mr Mackness, who learned about Evie's story after being shown a social media post by his wife Caroline, said was inspired by the "positivity" her parents shown in setting up the foundation after her death.

Dickie Mackness, pictured here with television presenter Adam Henson, said he had met people from "all walks of life"

He told BBC Radio Gloucestershire: "I loved the positivity of how they had been through this awful loss... making something of it and I just thought I've got to do something to help.

"I just felt really like I had no choice - I had to do something."

Branding his mammoth challenge as "Where's Dickie?", Mr Mackness began his walk with Evie's family and the foundation's supporters with a 17-mile (27km) walk on the Kent coast in September 2023, and has barely stopped since.

The foundation was set up with the aim of helping address the shortage of paediatric staff working in healthcare in the UK through issuing grants and awards, with Mr Mackness' challenge already helping to fund two new staff, nicknamed Evie Dove heroes.

He did not start with a specific goal in mind, but got the idea of walking more than 3,000 miles after seeing a sign at Lands End in Cornwall which positions the landmark and 3,149 miles (5,068km) from New York.

Despite dealing with a concussion, an Achilles injury, becoming marooned on the Isle of Skye during a storm and months of freezing wind and rain, Mr Mackness has already walked more than 2,400 miles (3,860km).

He joked: "I just said: 'I'm going to complete this, even if it's on my mother-in-law's mobility scooter.'"

Mr Mackness hopes to end his mammoth walk this September in Kent

He added: "There are so many people from different walks of life, people that maybe I wouldn't even have noticed before. They make a big deal [of the challenge] and say: 'That's fantastic.' It's so motivational."

While the going had not always been easy, Mr Mackness told the BBC he was "loving" the challenge, adding it had even helped change his perspective on life.

He said: "We watch the news, and it's all a bit doom and gloom at times. But when you're actually on the ground and making a connection and people come up and stuff some money in your tin or whatever, you find that most people are absolutely lovely.

"It's kind of reassuring for a chap in his 60s that the world hasn't gone totally mad. There's a lot of really lovely people out there getting on with their lives."