Burnley FC fan from Padiham treks Spain's 500-mile Camino Del Norte in aid of the Rosemere Cancer Foundation

Anthony Williams, of Padiham, took on the gruelling pilgrimage route Camino Del Norte throughout August, which saw him climb mountains during heatwaves and go back to basics, including “sleeping rough”.

The 58-year-old says it “meant a lot” to him to raise money for the Rosemere Cancer Foundation as he lost his dad to the disease.

"My dad was treated in Rosemere and I had depression about everything. I also lost some really good friends just after Covid. It knocked me, it really did.”

Anthony was inspired to direct his grief into helping others by an elderly neighbour who runs a bric-a-brac shop outside his house in all weathers.

“It makes you feel good to do a bit of something to help make a difference. It’s only a speck but it’s my speck.

"I’ve always wanted to do the Camino Del Norte and thought I might as well raise money for charity. I went to the French border and walked along the coastline of Northern Spain. I did it on my own but met many friends for life from around the world. It was superb.”

Anthony, who documented his journey on Youtube and in Facebook Lives, faced harsh conditions, lived out of a bag and slept in fields.

"It was really difficult. I was setting off at 4am and walking until 10pm in all different weathers. It went from one extreme to the other.

"But the people were fantastic. I met both 80-year-olds and 17-year-olds doing it. I thought I’d raise £500 but people kept donating. It’s good they did because I would have stopped if I was just doing it for myself. People gave me motivational speeches to keep me going. It proves there is a lot of good in this world.”

The Clarets supporter, who works at William Hill in Charter Walk, added: “I think work are proud of me. My colleagues and people who come into the shop were really supportive.

"I was so nervous when I started. I thought, ‘I’ll never do it, I’ll die’.

“One day, I was walking up this mountain in 100 degrees thinking, ‘I need to stop, I can’t do this.’

"Then my phone buzzed. I had a live video message from work and they said, ‘We’re so proud of you. You’re doing great’.

"I thought, ‘I can’t stop, and that lifted me’.

"All these young people were passing me. This French girl I was walking with nick-named me ‘The Snail’. It was like the tortoise and the hare. I don’t drink [alcohol] so I carried on walking while they stopped to drink. They got to the next town and I’d already been there.

"They said, ‘How did you get here so fast?’"

After he reached the finish line, Anthony says he returned home with a different attitude to life.

"It changes your mindset. You have time to think. You’re walking through fields on your own thinking about life. You’re in nature picking all these apples and pears off trees and stroking animals. It was wonderful. It was an unbelievable spiritual adventure and makes you realise you can live out of a bag for a month. You don’t need TVs. It was incredible.”