Press Officer Mark Carruthers safely and successfully completed the National Three Peaks Challenge over the weekend. Alongside his friend Mark Rutter of Fast Feet Football Academy, Mark navigated his way up and down the Peaks of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Mount Snowdon in order to raise money for Parkinsons UK and Mark explained just why that charity was so poignant to him.
He said “It’s been an emotional weekend given that it was done in my Grandad Alfie’s memory. He suffered from Parkinsons Disease for as long as I can remember and last November marked the twentieth anniversary of his passing so I don’t mind admitting I got a bit emotional when I reached each peak.”
Mark revealed that he received messages of support from many people involved at Croft Park and was particularly grateful to the Green Army, the club’s loyal group of supporters and hopes that the placement of a Spartans pennant of the top of each peak will have been a source of pride for the club.
“I’ve had support from all levels at the club both in terms of donations and text messages, facebook messages or tweets along the way and to get them from supporters of the club has made it extra special. I cant thank them enough for that. It was a proud moment to represent Spartans and leave a little piece of the club at the top of each peak.”
Mark also expressed his gratitude to his fellow participant Mark Rutter for the role he played both on and off the peaks. He said “Mark is my best mate and it was special to have him up there alongside me. He provided plenty of support and really at times had to drag me through. He’s a great lad and I hope one day I can repay what he has done for me over the weekend.”
Alongside his role as Spartans Press Officer Mark also co-commentates on games at Croft Park for local online radio station Radio Northumberland and they will be putting out a documentary detailing updates provided by Mark this week, which will also be made available through Spartans SoundCloud account.
The fundraising total currently stands at £2,120 and Mark was amazed to see the challenge hit that level. He said “It’s been overwhelming the support we received in terms of donations. My employer npower matched us £4£ up to £1000 which was a real bonus and to be honest £1000 was our initial target with that factored in so to hit over £2000 is unbelievable. We decided to leave the Just Giving site open until the end of June so again any donations will be gratefully accepted by both myself and of course Parkinsons UK.”
The Just Giving site set up by Mark is still live and will be accepting donations until the end of June with a presentation being made to Parkinsons UK before a Spartans game early next season. To donate online click here or text the code MPUK82 followed by a space and either 1, 2, 5, 10 or 20 depending on your donation in pounds to 70070.