Birmingham's Batonbearers

Mark Turnham, one of our many dedicated Contact Centre workers has been with us for more than 12-years. Originally from Liverpool, his wife is from Brum, and he moved down here back in 2000. Mark heard at the end of April that he was selected to be a baton bearer and is super excited and feels it a great tribute to be part of the celebrations.

Mark loves his team sports and like a lot of people plays football and cricket but, he has excelled and played cricket for England at international level since 2006. This is even more of an achievement as Mark is blind, so he plays as a member of the blind and visually impaired team.

He describes himself as a bit of an all-rounder, but his cricketing prowess has seen him compete against Australia in the ‘Blind Ashes’ in 2008 and 2016, and the Twenty-20 World Cup in India in 2017. He also hopes to take part in the Blind World Games in 2023 again in Birmingham!

On the day, Mark will be accompanied by his faithful guide dog ‘Reg’, a beautiful golden Labrador who will walk proudly with him and although tempting…no throwing the baton for him to retrieve!