Pride of Britain winner to trek through Northampton today as part of 300-mile journey home to County Durham

Pride of Britain Tyne Tees' regional winner, Mark Solan, 34, from County Durham is walking 300 miles back from the Pride of Britain awards, in London, to his hometown to raise money for his charity, The Solan Connor Fawcett Family Cancer Trust.

Back in 2015, Mark signed up for a white collar boxing event to raise money for Cancer Research UK, in memory of his mum and gran who both died from cancer.

By the night of his fight, Mark managed to raise £14,000 through fundraising efforts and when his Just Giving Page closed, donations had amounted to £21,315.

Spurred on by the amount of money he had raised, Mark launched The Solan Connor Fawcett Family Cancer Trust to support individuals and families in County Durham and Darlington who have been affected by cancer.

Mark's friend, Tina Young, said there are so many people that he helps. She said: "It's not just the people going through battling the disease, he helps their families as well.

"He is lovely, he is very generous, selfless, he would do anything for anyone. He is so focused, it's so personal to him because of his own tragedies."

Mark was planning to walk from Durham to London before the awards but fell short of time. On a whim, he began to walk back from Marble Arch on Tuesday, stopping off in St Albans and Woburn before reaching Northampton tonight.

Mark, who fell short of bagging an award at the finals, said: "It's amazing but it's really tough. It's not about the award, it's about the exposure, it was an incredible night.

"I have not really planned this, I'm just winging it. I'm getting up every morning and walking another 20 miles."