One man’s ‘Round Britain Walk’ giving thanks to the Freemason’s charity
Chris Jones, Lincolnshire Freemason expresses his thanks to the Masonic Charitable Foundation for getting his life back on track is arriving in Essex
Lincolnshire Freemason, Chris Jones, who embarked on a walk around the UK coastline, setting off from sunny Skegness on New Years Day, 2023 to raise money for the Masonic Charity Fund (MCF), the Lincolnshire 2025 Masonic Festival and to raise awareness of mental health issues.
In his own words, “I believe I’m alive today because of the Freemasons’ charity the MCF, which steered me through the darkest days of a mental health crisis. To say thank you to the professionals who helped me I’m embarking on a journey to walk the entire coastline of Britain; a journey of 7,500 miles or so, which could take me 18 months to complete.”
Chris suffered with poor mental health for some 10 years which cost days and sometimes weeks of his life contemplating suicide to escape the misery. His wife Michelle eventually convinced him to seek help and looking on the MCF website, he noticed a link to a ‘Mental Health Support Program’. He called the number and 35 minutes later received a call back from a mental health specialist. A counselling programme was set up and Chris is in no doubt with his councillor’s persistence, understanding and thoroughness, saved his life.
Since beginning the walk nearly two years ago Chris has walked some 5500 miles around our coastline and has met many new friends and visited many masonic temples/centres with numerous invites to attend meetings. He is unable to have a precise planning schedule as events happen daily and can alter well laid plans.
You may ask where he sleeps? – well he has a tent and sleeps wild although should an offer of bed for the night be presented, he wouldn’t turn it down!
He is now on the last stretch of the walk and will be arriving here in Essex next week, followed by Suffolk and Norfolk hoping to return to Lincolnshire by February 2025 and is hoping to raise £100,000 for the MCF.
To our Essex lodges that meet in coastal towns this amazing man could be coming your way, and you may get to meet him. So please keep an eye out especially with our social platforms in particular the Essex Freemasons Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/essexfreemasons?locale=en_GB as updates of where Chris will be, will be posted here.
You can read more about Chris and his incredible walk with the following links:
https://www.walktheedgemcf.com
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1601784864
Also, should you wish to donate to this extremely worthy cause, you can find his fund-raising page here
Photos
Top: Chris Jones pointing the way
Bottom (L-R): Chris in Liverpool; Chris in Ayr, Scotland; Chris waking up in his tent
