'I can't see where I'm going, I've got an artificial hip and a plate in my ankle - but I'm walking 50 miles for charity'

And as Alan, who is registered as partially-sighted, begins his 50-mile walk, five-day challenge, he will have no problem finding the inner strength to motivate himself. He is raising money for two charities close to his heart in memory of his beloved wife Mary, who died in his arms last year.

Alan, who lives in Stafford, hopes to raise £10,000 for Asthma Relief and Thrombosis UK, although he admits the target may be a bit daunting.

"My son set the target of £10,000, but I think he may have been a bit ambitious there," says Alan, who celebrates his 82nd birthday next month.

"But I have already reached the first £1,000, and anything we can get on top of that will help the charities a great deal.

"Mary suffered from asthma all her life, but she died from a pulmonary embolism, so the two charities are very important to me.

"They are fantastic charities, they do a wonderful job."

His fundraising efforts begin on Tuesday, with a 10-mile walk around Windsor Park, followed the next day by a 10-mile hike around Hyde Park in London.

Then on Thursday he will return to the West Midlands for a walk around Sutton Park, followed by one around Dartmouth Park in West Bromwich the following day, before finishing on Cannock Chase on August 16.

"I'm from West Bromwich originally, and Dartmouth Park is where I misspent much of my youth," he says.

Alan's world was turned upside down in January 2023, when Mary died suddenly from a blood clot in the lung, at the of 75.

"A month before this awful time I was informed I had age-related macular degeneration for which there is no treatment," he adds.

"Since then my sight has diminished appreciably, by almost 60 per cent.

"It's not easy, but as long as I can put one foot in front of the other....

"I just keep my head down and follow my nose. I have got my white stick, so people know I'm visually impaired.

"I walk at a reasonable pace - I'm doing 20-minute miles, I'm reasonably fit.

"It's easy to feel sorry for yourself, and feel an old man. I am an old man, but I don't feel sorry for myself."

It is far from Alan's first attempt at fundraising. Just weeks before Mary's death, Alan marked his 80th birthday by completing a series of challenges to raise £6,000 for charity.

To mark the milestone in his life, Alan completed a series of challenges including 80 ends of indoor bowls, 80 ends of outdoor bowls, and 81 holes of golf, plus 80 miles of walking split into four 20-mile stretches.

The money he raised was split between the Motor Neurone Disease Association, Diabetes UK, Prostate Cancer UK, and the Alzheimer’s Society.

Alan said he caught the fundraising bug in the mid-1980s, when he started running marathons with his late brother Don.

"We completed over 50 marathons each, including the London Marathon seven times, and we both achieved under three-hour times.

“Our last big run together was in 1999 when we ran the total length of the River Severn.”

Anyone who wishes to donate can do so at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/awalkinthepark2024.