Hundreds of people join walk in memory of The Wanted star Tom Parker

Video report by Granada Reports journalist Claire Hannah

The family and friends of Tom Parker from The Wanted have taken part in a special walk through his hometown of Bolton to raise money for charity.

Tom died of a rare form of brain cancer, Gioblastoma, in March 2022.

His mother, Noreen Parker, said: "It's his birthday on Thursday (4 August) so this is a walk we wanted to do.

"It's a walk to raise some money for the charity ahead of the game, but also for people who couldn't come down for the funeral like friends, family, fans from Bolton to come and do the walk."

Despite the rain, almost 200 people turned out for the walk which took in a number of key locations of Tom's childhood including his school, Tongue Park where he used to play and the Swan Pub where he win a karaoke competition kickstarting his career in music.

The walk was in aid of the Ahead of the Game Foundation who supported Tom after he received his diagnosis.

David Bolton, who runs the charity, has the same tumour Tom did but has miraculously lived with it for eight years. Only 2% of people live this long.

The charity provides free rehabilitation to people who have been diagnosed with cancer. 

"Tom was like a brother to me," he said. "We got talking once he got diagnosed but we spoke every single day - I gave him hope, he gave me support.

"I'm so proud to be here today to represent Tom."

Tom's family are hoping the walk will have raised at least £5,000 for charity.

Noreen added: "He did so much in the two years he was ill. The charity events, the Albert Hall raised a lot of money for brain tumour research.

"He wrote a book, he did a tour with The Wanted, we want to carry on that legacy.

"Hopefully, we can do something every year for him."

Parker announced in October 2020 he had been diagnosed with stage-four glioblastoma and had begun radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

The 33-year-old passed away peacefully on Wednesday, 30 March 2022, with his family by his side.

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