Daisy Hughes is walking from Oxford to London in memory of her late father, respected journalist Mark Hughes, and donating the money raised to the John Schofield Trust.

Mark Hughes passed away in October 2021. He is remembered as a brave and versatile journalist, who covered many difficult stories during his career including the genocide in Rwanda, and most recently ran the Business Desk for the Khmer Times in Cambodia. He worked with John Schofield on Channel 4 Daily in the 1990s.

In a piece posted on the Khmer Times website, friend and colleague Michael Firn praised Mark’s kindheartedness, saying, ‘He was a constant source of story ideas, mentoring his team of reporters [and] he leaves a great hole in all our lives and boots too big to fill’.

Mark’s daughter Daisy has announced she will walk the entire 114 miles from Oxford to London, along the Thames Path, in her dad’s memory. This was a route that Mark walked shortly before Daisy was born. Daisy has kindly chosen to donate all the money raised on her walk to the John Schofield Trust. She said, ‘This is a cause I think would be very close to his heart, as a charity which seeks to improve social mobility and increase diversity in UK journalism’.

Trust CEO David Stenhouse said, ‘We’re incredibly honoured that Daisy is remembering the remarkable life and career of her dad in this way. The stories about Mark mentoring his colleagues and his great reputation as a multi-talented journalist should move us all to give Daisy maximum support for her walk this month. I hope the Trust community will join me in supporting her along the way’.

Daisy’s walk will begin on Friday 17 December, when she will cover the 18.2 miles to Dorchester-on-Thames, and concludes on Wednesday 22 December when she plans to walk the final 15 miles from Shepperton to London. She has already raised an impressive £1,260 of her current £1,500 target, from a total of 46 donations so far.

The Trust will be supporting Daisy’s fundraising via our social media throughout Daisy’s journey. Please offer your support to Daisy’s fundraising.