ONE year and 3,000 miles in, a charity fund-raiser has celebrated reaching a landmark with a pancake party.

Brian Burnie, the founder of Daft as a Brush Patient Care, marked the first anniversary of his ambitious 7,000-mile walk around the British Isles by reaching North Wales.

Starting from Gateshead in March 2018, Mr Burnie cleared the coastal paths of Northumberland, Scotland, Cumbria, Lancashire and Merseyside, before entering Wales.

Mr Burnie is doing the walk as part of his mission to create one million free cancer patient journeys across the UK each year by raising awareness of the transport service his charity provides in the North-East.

He said: “I’m thrilled to have achieved 3,000 miles since March 5, 2018.

“As it was the anniversary of starting the walk and Shrove Tuesday, we had a pancake party to celebrate on Llandudno Pier.

“Supporters and volunteers travelled all the way from Newcastle to be with us and it really makes me appreciate what a fantastic team we have.

“Each year, we transport 40,000 cancer patients from their homes to and from hospital who require chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy cancer treatment. If we can replicate what we do in the North-East all over Great Britain and Ireland, we could help so many patients on their journey to recovery.”

Throughout the challenge, Mr Burnie met with major cancer centres throughout Scotland and Cumbria and will meet with oncologists and medical teams in Liverpool and Wales in the near future to discuss the possibility of the Daft as a Brush transport service operating in these areas.

People can follow his journey at www.bluebellbus.org.uk