Former Lancashire headteacher nominated for ITV's Pride of Britain Award for work after death of daughter

Mike Barnes, from Goosnargh, has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity by running hundreds of miles around the North West and completing the London Marathon, twice.

Here’s what he said before this year’s London Marathon event

The 72-year-old started running in memory of his daughter Laura Stephenson who died of bowel cancer four years ago at the age of 36. The mum-of-three died just 18 months after given birth to identical twin girls Sophie and Naomi. She was set to start on an immunotherapy trial at the Christie Hospital in Manchester before she died, and her dad has been determined to raise money for them.

He said: “I decided I wanted to start fundraising, but I wasn’t very good at cake sales, jumble sales or organising events so I thought maybe I could run - after all it’s only putting one foot in front of the other! I was unsure how I could do this until I had a ‘moment of madness’ in the new year of 2022 and thought ‘why not run the London Marathon’, even though I had not really run any distance further than down the road to the Post Office!”

Now Mike is among four finalists nominated for the Pride of Britain Regional Fundraiser of the Year Award 2024 for the North West. He told ITV - who run the awards - that Laura would be "blown away" to know he had been nominated. "It would be an amazing feeling", Mike added. "Not for me, but for the community, for those people who are going through the treatment.”

Laura’s best friend Libby Coldwell says Mike is an inspiration to everyone. She added: “His motivation is to help improve provision and research so that no other families have to suffer in a way that they've suffered. He has seen unimaginable things that no parents should have to see and yet he is still able to hold onto the positives. He really draws strength from Laura's positivity."

Headteacher

After studying drama at what is now Middlesex University and teaching in three schools in London, Mike, his wife and their three daughters moved up north 25 years ago to take up a headship at Goosnargh Oliverson’s CE Primary School. Mike was also headteacher at Broad Oak, Scotforth St Paul’s and Flakefleet primary schools. He now volunteers for the North West Ambulance Service and manages to fit training with Chorley’s Lions Running Community into his busy schedule.

He describes his volunteering and fundraising work as an "honour", also telling ITV: "It's about helping others and raising funds because cancer is still around. While it is still around, I'll keep raising funds".