Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Speedo Mick is a Diamonds geezer
Intrepid fundraiser “Speedo Mick” provided a welcome boost to an Airdrie charity as he travelled through North Lanarkshire during his epic five-month, 2000-mile trek of the UK and Ireland.
He handed over a £3000 donation to Diamonds in the Community to assist with their baby and family clothing aid project, which is currently expanding with a move into dedicated towncentre premises.
The Everton fan was then accompanied by group volunteers Bob Reid and Stephen Eaton as he continued his walk into Glasgow – and the trio were “astounded” to find themselves joined on their travels by Goodison Park legend and former Scotland star Graeme Sharp.
Speedo Mick, whose real name is Michael Cullen, successfully swam the Channel in 2014 and has since become a familiar fundraising fixture at his club’s matches wearing his trademark blue trunks.
His adventures since then include walking from Liverpool to France and trekking in the winter of 2019 from John O’groats to Lands End – still clad only in his swimwear – and he is now distributing £250,000 of fundraising proceeds to a host of local charities around the country on the current Giving Back tour.
Diamonds in the Community had been thrilled to learn that their recent application to his Speedo Mick Foundation had been successful, and arranged to collect their bumper cheque from the fundraiser on day 18 of his extraordinary challenge which will finally conclude in November in his home city of Liverpool.
Fundraising and partnerships manager Dougy Allsop said: “We met him at the hotel where he was staying and he appeared with his Speedos and his flag.
“He’s a genuinely lovely man and is really inspiring when you look at his story and all he’s done.
“I had spoken to him the previous day when he was walking from Edinburgh to Glasgow – he’s doing everything himself and I think he’d been struggling a wee bit that day, but he was walking through Greengairs at the time and was so chuffed with the response there, which really spurred him on.
“He must be knackered already and we met him on only day 18 of five months, but he was lovely and very chatty, speaking to us and doing videos for both charities, and we were really humbled to meet him.
“A couple of our volunteers, who are part of our Walk and Talk group on Thursday nights, went with him for the first four or five miles of his journey into Glasgow and were the first people to join him on his walk so far.”
They enjoyed a great reception as they headed west from Stepps, receiving cheers, donations and numerous “beeps and toots” from passing traffic – but they were stunned when one car pulled up and former Everton star Graeme jumped out, keen to join the group after hearing from relatives that Speedo Mick was in action close to home.
Dougy said: “It was a dream come true for them – Graeme’s family live nearby and his sister-in-law had passed Mick when he was walking, so when he found out he went along to join them.
“It was brilliant for him to join them as they were walking and really got the spirits up and gave them a good wee lift.”
Mick is taking on his current challenge, walking round Britain and Ireland from his original starting point in Stornoway, and taking in the capitals of Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin, Cardiff and London, to “give back to the people and communities who have supported me in the past.”
He said: “Homelessness, mental health and disadvantaged young people are issues very close to my heart as I’ve been through those struggles and I know how hard it is to come out the other side.
“In my life, I’ve been in some dark, lonely, hopeless places and for me, one of the most rewarding parts of my fundraising has been to help people who are facing what I have faced.”
“The Covid-19 pandemic has placed a huge strain on the finances of so many worthy charities and shone a light on how difficult life can be for a lot of young people, whether it’s because of a lack of food, money or opportunities – so I’ll do anything I can to help.”
Diamonds in the Community runs a range of projects, having started out with football and sporting projects and having developed over the years to its current wider range of community assistance.
Charity representative Dougy added: “We’ve diversified quite a bit over time. We started out with things like disability sports competitions, football memories and mental health, and then during Covid we did community assistance, like shopping, prescriptions and dog walking for people who were shielding.
“We were approached to set up the baby and family clothing bank, and the donation from Speedo Mick will help us with the running costs over the next year, especially as we’ve now got premises in the town centre.
“Mick was really interested to hear about our various projects and was really happy that the money would be going to the clothing aid project.
“His story resonates and all relates to his personal experiences, and for somebody like that to acknowledge what we’re trying to do in our town is a great acknowledgement and really appreciated.”