Mark Pattenden is an amputee, who lost his leg 18 years ago. Since then Mark has raised over £250,000 for charity and this year Mark not only received the Prime Minister's Point of Light Award for his fundraising efforts, but was also one of four London finalists in the Pride of Britain Awards .

Mark is a volunteer fundraiser, which means that he doesn't get paid for the fundraising that he does. He's one of those rare golden nuggets you come across from time to time - a truly altruistic person. Nothing illustrates this more than the story of his beloved Landrover. It's probably fair to say that Mark is more of a Disco 2 man than a 110 man, although he loves both. (He finds the Disco 2 more comfortable to drive). In 2016, Mark pledged to be the first amputee to run the Great Wall of China and created a 'pay it forward' initiative around this challenge, to fund a running blade for another amputee. (The initiative has since gone on to fund another blade for a second amputee). Mark needed to raise money for the trip to China, he had nearly reached his target... but not quite... so he took the selfless step of selling his beloved Landrover 110, which he had carefully restored and which he loved very much. Mark did become the first amputee to run the Great Wall of China, but on returning to the UK needed to find a very low cost vehicle. The first car he bought caused him back pain, so he sold it on and bought an old Saab, which sadly has been problematic... to the point that today it died :-( The sad thing is that he knows his old 110 will still be running.

Mark's next personal goal is to participate in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. The #CarbonArcher - as he has been nicknamed - has been training hard. He is a man on a mission! Sometimes the journey time to his archery training takes him 3 hours, so he can be driving for 6 hours a day! But he can't do that without a vehicle...

Wednesday 8th November is Mark's birthday. If Mark is your friend, or if he has inspired you in anyway, or if his uplifting posts have brightened your day, why not wish Mark a 'Happy Birthday' by donating £1 or £2... or even donate the price of a pint of beer - £3.50 and let's see whether we can help Mark to buy another Landrover to replace the one he so selflessly sold. Thank you.