It's coming back! The Miles for Men 5k run is returning and the charity has lots of other plans too

The Miles for Men 5k run will return in 2022, said the man who first launched it in memory of his father in 2012.

The pandemic has put paid to any chances of the run going ahead in the last two years but Miles for Men founder Micky Day said: “It will 100 percent be back in 2022 and it will be on the last weekend in July. We want to get that buzz factor back.”

The Miles for Men story started 10 years ago when Micky founded the 5k run in memory of his father Michael Day senior, who died aged 68 after a one-year battle with throat cancer.

Micky previously told the Mail: “We hoped we would raise £5,000 for Cancer Research from the first run and never thought it would turn into this.”

There has been no stopping the town charity ever since and it has donated more than £500,000 to worthy causes since then.

Micky told of the charity’s future plans on the day he collected a Prime Minister’s Points of Light award, which recognises outstanding individual volunteers who are making a change in their community.

Despite the honour, which he received from town MP Jill Mortimer, he was keen to single out the amazing people of Hartlepool – and his team of volunteers – for praise after they made sure Miles for Men survived the pandemic.

"We could not hold any events during Covid. How we have stayed open I don’t know. It is all down to the girls in the shop and the people who have been supporting us.”

The charity’s shop Extra Mile in the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre is open after lockdown and Micky said: “People are donating to the shop and it is huge.”

Miles for Men is also looking to hold a fundraising football match next year.

The charity will also benefit from Retrofest which is being held at the Mayfair Centre at Seaton Carew on Saturday, October 9.

Ten DJs are lined up to provide 13 hours of entertainment with all profits going to Miles for Men, where event organiser Richard Griffiths used to be the chairman.

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