Northampton groundsman mowing a million steps for children with life-limiting conditions

Groundsman Mo Robson is mowing one million steps to raise money for children with life-limiting conditions.

The 41 year-old, who is groundsman for Northampton Spencer Community Trust Football Club, has ditched his sit-down mower to push a grass-cutter up and down the Kingsthorpe Mill’s two pitches.

And Mo, who lives in the Mounts, is turning his steps into miles in a virtual walk across the England visiting football clubs along the way as he raises money for Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, which cares for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families.

Mo said: “I have done 600,000 steps so far. I have been counting my steps every time I’m down at the club cutting the grass. When I do a full-size pitch it’s 20,000 steps.

“I had a ride-on mower, but we lost that in the flood that damaged so much of the club at Christmas and I have switched to pushing a mower. When I started doing a full pitch it was pretty tiring and my legs were screaming ‘what have you done?’

“But it keeps me fit and so I thought I would turn all these steps into a charity effort for a good cause.”

Mo has raised more than £400 so far for Shooting Star Children’s Hospice, but is aiming for much more and calling on people to get behind his epic target of a million steps.

“I have walked 270 miles so far cutting the pitches. That is Plymouth Argyle to Wimbledon’s Plough Lane. I have been tagging clubs on social media as I reach them on the virtual walk and I am going to do all the clubs in London as I keep on walking.

“I will see how far a million steps takes me, but it should get me round quite a few clubs. The summer is the best time to do this and I wanted to do something to help Shooting Star Children’s Hospice as they do such a wonderful job helping children and their families with life-limiting illnesses.

“I have a daughter myself, so I can’t imagine how hard it must be for families going through something like that. They support the families with the care their children need and also give emotional support. It’s free of charge for families and includes a range of therapies and support groups for the whole family, specialist nursing care and respite – it really is wonderful.”

To donate to Mo’s million steps challenge go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mo-robson.

For regular updates Follow Mo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sctgroundsman and Twitter: https://twitter.com/groundsmansct