The County fan walking from Sheffield to Stockport… at the grand old age of 82!

Keith Mills is raising money for his charity Forever Friends of Uganda

May 24, 2025

Saturday 24 May 2025

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DESMOND’S COMEDY CLUB: Friday 30 May at The Fingerpost. Show starts at 7.30pm. Tickets £15. Line-up includes Freddy Quinne, Kie Carson, Will Smith and Eddie Fortune. Drop me an email if you’d like to join us!

This time next week, County fan Keith Mills will be somewhere between Sheffield and Stockport. Not in a car, or on a train, but on foot. The 82-year-old is walking from the city where he studied at university back to his hometown, raising money for his charity Forever Friends of Uganda. Keith’s already raised £1,295 at the time of writing. Let’s get that figure a little bit higher over the weekend.

As well as raising money for charity, Keith’s walk is to celebrate his diamond wedding anniversary, having been married to his wife Jeanette for 60 years (they met in Sheffield). With so much shit going on in the world at the moment (the top stories on the BBC News website today include Trump’s tariffs, a Russian missile attack on Kyiv and an Israeli air strike on Gaza) a heartwarming story such as this needs sharing, so I thought I’d have a lovely little natter with Keith ahead of his 33-mile slog next weekend.

Today’s edition is sponsored by Impact Gardens & Driveways. A big thank you to Carl, Fiona and Lee.

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 253.75 miles

Total steps so far: 418,084

Total raised so far: £2,312

Total completed streets so far: 474 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

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You’re 82 years old. You’ve lived and taught in Uganda and Zambia. You’ve been a summer camp counsellor in America. You’ve run a guest house in France. You’ve written two books. Now you’re walking from Sheffield to Stockport. Do you not just fancy sitting in front of Countdown with a couple of custard creams?

No way! If I’m honest, I’m not very good at sitting around. I need to be getting on with things. Forever Friends of Uganda’s work is non-stop and Stockport u3a also keeps both of us occupied. There’ll be plenty of time to lie back and do nothing when I’m laid in my coffin.

I know you’ve done four training walks so far, each between 10 and 13 miles. Have you been anywhere nice?

It’s all been local. There are so many lovely places to explore almost from home. One day it was down to Chadkirk, up to Marple along the canal, then exploring around the Roman Lakes before going up to Brookbottom (sadly the Fox was closed). On to Disley and a pint in the Albert (a few doors from where I was born).

Another was along the canal to Higher Poynton, onto the uplands over and round Lyme and a return over Wybersley and the Ridge to Marple.

Without taking the piss, you must have a few creaking bones and aching muscles at your age. How are you planning on making it back home in one piece?

People must be getting fed up when I keep repeating the fears that my knees and hips will give in before the finish. But then more sponsorship money comes in and people show their support in various ways and I get excited about the whole thing again. My thanks must go out to the support team – friends and family – who will help over the three days.

You met Jeanette in Sheffield when you were students in 1961. I’m guessing that wasn’t on Tinder or Bumble. So how did you get together?

Ha ha! It was in a far from romantic history lecture hall.

You’ve been married for 60 years. What’s the secret?

Learn to agree to disagree (after the shouting has finished) and each one of you must spend time going your own way. Then you come together for shared experiences.

Following early retirement, you and Jeanette moved to France for a new adventure in rural Normandy restoring and running a guesthouse and gîte. Then, shortly after your 60th birthdays, you founded Les Amis d'Ouganda, which is now Forever Friends of Uganda in the UK. Give us a brief history of the charity.

Jeanette and I were teachers in Uganda in the 1970s. We returned 23 years ago to celebrate our 60th birthdays. On that holiday, we met some amazing people who were dedicating their lives to helping village children who could not afford to go to school.

We were living in France at the time and immediately founded Les Amis d’Ouganda to support their work. Before we returned to live in Stockport a few years ago, we needed to register in the UK. We thus became Forever Friends of Uganda.

As a lifelong County fan, many of the people around me are also County fans – half of our trustees for example – as well as those who sponsor children’s education and other members or donors. They have made a considerable difference to what we can achieve.

How often do you travel to Uganda? And what have been your best moments from your travels?

We visit on charity business just about every other year; that is in addition of course to the four years that we worked there.

We taught in a remote village called Koboko (Idi Amin’s birthplace) on the Congo/Sudan border. We were 200 miles from the nearest tarred road, 30 miles (on dirt roads) from the nearest shops and petrol pump. It’s the most remote secondary school in the country. But we loved it. It was a real highlight of our teaching careers.

As far as football was concerned, the top moment was when I refereed an inter-county cup final with President Idi Amin in the crowd. After the final whistle, he sent a message summoning Mr Referee. Oh heck, I thought, is this the end? But in his simplistic way, he just wanted to say thank you. What a relief that was.

During the charity years, there are really too many great moments to mention. But top of the list must be the joy on the children’s faces whenever we visit. They have nothing in their homes: no internet, no television, indeed no electricity. Many of them sleep on the dirt floor of their homes. And yet their faces often radiate happiness.

What’s Fraser Horsfall’s role and how did you get him involved?

We were delighted to welcome Fraser on board as our player ambassador. He’s volunteered to do all he can to give us a higher visibility and to emphasise our connection to County. It’s something very new both to him and to us. It’s going to be fascinating watching how the role develops. Steve Bellis has been great over the past few years supporting a range of initiatives and it is through him that we made this connection.

And finally, as this is a County website, what’s your thoughts on this season?

Sadly we didn’t make it over the finishing line, but even with that disappointment it’s been a great season. The journey from National League North to 3rd in League One is something that we just have to celebrate. I missed the successes of the mid-90s as we were living in France at the time and that’s made the last few years extra special. Not a final curtain on my life though – you’re not getting rid of me yet. (I hope!) Let’s look forward to further success next season.

➡️ Click here to add a few quid to Keith’s fundraising efforts.

➡️ Click here to read the Forever Friends of Uganda blog.

➡️ In 2023, Keith published his memoirs. Click here to read an extract on his time teaching in Uganda and Zambia.

A few words from Impact Gardens & Driveways

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Photo of the day

Boundary Park, Oldham

I was in sunny Oldham all day yesterday (I’m genuinely a little bit sunburnt!) doing a shoot for a new Netflix drama.

Boundary Park was our base for the day – a ground County haven’t visited in the league since a 0-0 draw on the opening day of the 2009-10 season.

Oldham are only one victory away from returning to the Football League. If the Latics win the play-off final next weekend, County could be going there in August in the Carabao Cup, or possibly later in the season in the Vertu.

Today in SK

🎬 Cinema

One film at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (12A) at 5pm and 8.30pm. Click here for tickets.

🍺 Food and drink

All pints £2.50 at The Cross Keys (SK8) from 6pm till 9pm.

A number of venues are featured on The Scarf My Father Wore such as The Crown (SK2), The Alexandra (SK3), The Steelworks (SK6), The Three Tunnes (SK7), Flute & Firkin (SK12) and The Ram’s Head (SK12). Support them this month by popping in for a few drinks and a bite to eat.