Mark Beard – Raising Money for Prostate Cancer UK 

 

Mark Beard – Raising Money for Prostate Cancer

Mark Beard is an 11 year business consultant veteran with Jonas Metal’s Metalogic group. He has embarked on an epic journey for a great cause – Prostate Cancer Research. Mark is walking 11,000 steps or more a day throughout March for Prostate Cancer UK. Prostate cancer is one the most commonly diagnosed cancers.

Mark lost his Father to Cancer back in 2020 and understands the pain of losing someone, It’s killing dads, partners, sons, brothers, grandads, uncles and mates. But it doesn’t have to be that way. He’s raising money to help fund lifesaving research for men and their families affected by prostate cancer.

Mark proudly served in the Royal Engineers, unfortunately he suffered a disabling injury while in service. This injury held him back from some of his favorite sports, however undeterred he battled back and completed a Triathlon in 2013. A couple of years ago Mark broke his leg and had to have this ankle rebuilt. Which makes this accomplishment so much more impressive.

While visiting the local Bell Inn Pub in his town of Ledbury, Mark saw an ad for a March Walking Challenge called the “March the Month” fundraising challenge for cancer research.

Mark thought this was an interesting challenge that requires walking at least 11,000 steps every day and he knew it was something he could do. Furthermore as a member of the Royal engineers association, he has witnessed many of the older members affected by the slow burn of prostate cancer and he wanted to do something for the veterans.

So with a couple of days practice under his belt on March 1 … game on!. He starts in the early morning and walks 3 times a day. Rain, shine or snow the quest continues, often he will double he steps each day to a top of 28K steps – lot of pain but he keeps pushing.

Accompanying Mark on his adventure is Mark’s 6 year old  “Unloyal spaniel”, Piper who absolutely loves walks and getting dirty. When Mark broke his leg and couldn’t walk her she was not happy and ignored him- hence the moniker.

A key benefit of this journey has been the discovery of beautiful areas near his home and the outstanding natural beauty of the nearby Malvern Hills area with scenic views of both Herefordshire and Worcestershire. 

Mark’s initial fundraising goal was set at 500 GBP, at the time of this writing he has far surpassed this and has raised in excess of 1,200 GPB with more than 435K steps. This is a truly impressive achievement.

Mark described the Royal Engineers as the people that “Make things Happen”. In service Mark was an information technician and specialized in digital communications, this training put him on track to the software industry. Mark is a member of the prestigious Jonas MVP Presidents Club. In 2016 Mark received the global MVP in Las Vegas. Asked about one of the most interesting places Jonas Metals software has taken him and he said it has to be an implementation for a division of Sumitomo in Lafayette Louisiana, where the culture and food are really an experience.

Mark is married and is very proud of his two daughters, one is a teacher and the other is at university studying Veterinary Medicine.

Mark would like to thank everyone for all of their support and donations. “Everyone has been very supportive of me” from the management, my coworkers and even donations from overseas colleagues. The support has cheered him up and on and “Makes our team look great”.

Asked about his next adventure – he said that he needs to think about it, but it needs to be fun, interesting and doable.  Asked about how others could get involved in fundraising – “Find one that suits you and go for it”.

Mark lives his life by the unofficial motto of the Royal Engineers:

“We do the impossible immediately. Miracles take a little longer.