Tees Valley Mayor Cuts Ribbon On ‘Inspirational’ Cancer Charity’s New Shop

Mayor Ben Houchen has officially declared a Tees Valley cancer charity’s store as open for business.

Hartlepool’s Miles for Men and Walk for Women shop was previously located on the town’s York Road, but has now moved to a new, bigger, home at Unit 135 in Middleton Grange Shopping Centre – across from Costa Coffee.

The charity has raised more than £320,000 to date for those affected by cancer locally and nationally. It was launched in 2012 by Michael Day Jnr in memory of his father, Michael Day Snr, who lost his battle with throat cancer in 2007 aged 67.

Michael Jnr, also known as Micky, decided to launch a sponsored 5K run for men, which has become a successful annual event supported by other fundraising activity including celebrity football matches and social events.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “When I first visited Miles for Men last year, I was blown away by their dedication to help those affected by cancer.

“The inspirational work by Micky Day and the entire team has helped them go from strength to strength and I’m honoured to be able to open their new charity shop. Thanks to this new location, and the generosity of people in Hartlepool, they’ll be able to make an even bigger impact.”

Kelly Pearson, the charity’s Treasurer and shop manager, said: “We are very grateful to the public who support us day in and day out. They inspire us to try harder to raise as much money to help as many people as possible who find themselves in hardship, or struggling through disability or ill health. We are passionate about what we do and will continue to grow the charity so that even more people can be helped in the future.

“We are so pleased Ben Houchen had the time to come and open our new shop and we are very grateful to Mark Rycraft and his team at Middleton Grange Shopping Centre for giving us this opportunity to reach even more people. It’s been a fab day and we really can’t say thank you enough.”

Mark Rycraft, Middleton Grange Shopping Centre manager, said: “We are thrilled to welcome this inspiring organisation to Middleton Grange. The people behind the charity work so hard in raising much-needed funds, so we’re delighted to be able to support them even further by providing retail space in a vibrant location in Hartlepool enabling Miles For Men to increase their ability to help local people. We wish the team the best of the luck.”