Darwen quizmaster Jay Flynn to run marathon for homeless charity
A man who was homeless will be running past the bench he slept on for two years when he tackles the London Marathon in aid of the charity which helped get him off the streets.
Jay Flynn, 39, will run past the bench on Embankment which he called "No 3 Riverside Drive", where he slept for two years after losing his job and a relationship breakdown.
Mr Flynn, who lives in Darwen, Lancashire, with his wife Sarah and son Jack, became a sensation during lockdown when his virtual pub quiz went viral after he mistakenly set a Facebook event to public instead of private and attracted half a million people.
Former Lancashire pub landlord holds virtual quiz with over 300,000 participants
The weekly quizzes quickly became a staple lockdown event, often bringing hundreds of thousands of people together, and still take place every week.
In 2020 he was nominated for the Pride of Britain Granada Regional Fundraiser Award and became one of the region's four finalists.
Pride of Britain: The virtual quizmaster raising thousands for good causes
He was also awarded an MBE for his fundraising achievements and is running the London marathon in aid of homeless charity The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields, which supported him 12 years ago.
The charity supports people sleeping rough and helps them find work.
Mr Flynn said: "Martins helped me when for two years I had no help, and I was on my own living on the streets of London and they came to my aid, they rebuilt me, they put me back to being a human and they rebuilt me from a shell of a person.
"And I said to them at the time, I will be forever and ever and ever in their debt, and I'm continuing to repay that debt."
Dubbed the "Quiz masters' quiz master" by Stephen Fry, since March 2020 Jay has raised more than £1 million for charities, and holds a Guinness World Record for the most viewers of a quiz on a YouTube livestream.
The Connection at St Martin's chief executive Pam Orchard said: "It's down to the generosity of our supporters that we are able to continue our vital services to help people get off and stay off the streets of London and to meaningful futures and a place called home.
"We'd like to thank Jay and all our runners for their incredible efforts in completing the London Marathon in October 2021."