HIS socks may be wearing thin, but that hasn’t stopped Land’s End to John O’Groats walker Steve Carr from commanding the attention of a government minister as he continues with his journey northward.

With just £100 to his name, Steve Carr is hoping to raise awareness of mental health issues and homelessness up and down the nation. And after leaving the bright lights of Manchester last week where he was treated to a few nights rest at a kind-hearted stranger’s home he has now made his way to the Lake District, where he spoke to The Adver in between rain showers on the shores of Lake Windemere.

But on his way up he made a slight detour to Liverpool where he met Shadow Minister for Mental Health Luciana Berger and the presenter of new BBC documentary series Life After Suicide, Angela Samata. He said that both were really interested in his epic walk and keen to learn of what he had discovered about the number of people sleeping rough across the country.

He is hoping that once he has completed the walk he will be able to provide the minister with some real insight into the troubles facing people sleeping rough up and down the country and where there are problem areas.

While continuing north he also had a Facetime chat with town-based support service Swindon SOBS (Survivors Of Bereavement By Suicide) to plan his course of action once his journey is completed, which will see him launch his website as a one stop portal to link up all the mental health and homelessness.

“It really is amazing,” he said. “From nothing something has come of it all and I am really pleased that this will benefit people. I keep going because I know it can’t get any worse – it can only get better.”

He added that after seeing some truly inspirational people in Manchester, where those sleeping rough were really up against it trying to survive, being in the Lake District had come as some much needed rest-bite.

“Where I have seen so much poverty in the cities it is something that is actually quite sparse in places like this. But out here I don’t think people would survive outside – it is a little too wet and windy where I am now!”

The 39-year-old has set himself the epic challenge after battling mental health problems, drug addiction and homelessness in the wake of the death of his older brother Paul in 1991. Paul was one of five young people to lose their lives when a car careered off Akers Way and smashed into them. At the age of 15, Steve had to deal with the loss of his brother and the effect of the trauma on his whole family.

But now 24 years later he is in recovery, and the strength and determination that has brought him this far is now driving him to try and help others.

His journey has been made slightly easier after he visited Blackpool when he spotted an abandoned set of wheels that he suspects once belonged to a shopping trolley – favoured by “the older generation” – which he has now gratefully enlisted to help him carry his tent, sleeping bag and other belongings.

On Good Friday he set off again to try and reach Carlisle.

To support his fundraising enroute visit www.gofundme.com/mindcanyon.