Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee cheered on fundraisers walking in memory of estate agent Charlie Dallas Lancaster, who died aged 36.
Friends and family gathered on what would have been Lancaster’s 39th birthday to complete the final leg of the 2023 Mile a Life event.
Mile a Life is an annual fundraising event organised by the Charlie Dallas Lancaster Foundation (CDLF), set up in memory of Lancaster after his 2020 death following a long battle with depression.
Lancaster co-founded York-based agency Lancaster Samms when he was 28 and started online agency MyBid4It two years before his death. He was also an advocate of many local charities.
This year’s Mile a Life, a month-long running or walking challenge, ran from May 23 to June 23, culminating in a group walk from York Cathedral to Lancaster’s memorial bench at Bishopthorpe Crematorium. Participants tracked their activity on app Strava to raise money for charities, many of which increase awareness of mental health.
Persimmon Homes organised for British triathlete Brownlee to meet the walkers and donated £5,000 to CDLF through the Community Champions Initiative.
Brownlee said: “To see Charlie’s family and friends coming together on what would have been his birthday like this is very special.
“I like the idea of their challenge as it doesn’t matter how you cover the miles, it’s about being active and how that helps your mental and physical health. I really believe in the importance of activity and routine and helping people create active habits.
“Sometimes all it takes is a bit of motivation and an event like this can inspire people to do activity and that becomes a habit.”
It was the third Mile for Life event in memory of Lancaster and his family said money raised goes to mental health support networks and local charities.
Victoria Taylor, Lancaster’s sister, said: “The idea is that it creates a big sense of community and that creates a structure or route for people because not everybody needs crisis intervention.
“We are a fundraising organisation and we then gift the money on to other mental health support networks and charities locally.
“Charlie was massively into therapy and counselling but that’s not for everyone and we have helped other forms of support including Box Therapy, where people get involved in non-contact boxing and are supported by a team of therapists.”
Scott Waters, managing director for Persimmon Homes Yorkshire, knew Lancaster and said he was ‘well-known and much liked in York’.
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