Emmerdale star Mark Charnock appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday to speak about a new project that’s very close to his heart

Emmerdale actor Mark Charnock has taken a step away from the ITV soap to focus on another project that has a close family connection.

The Marlon Dingle actor, who’s played the character for almost 30 years, appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, December 3 to launch the ITV morning show’s 1 Million Minutes campaign which aims to help stamp out loneliness.

Mark, 56, directed the campaign launch film, called Life Long Fans, and he told presenters Susanna Reid and Ed Balls how he was inspired by his relatives when it came to making the poignant piece.

The short film shows an elderly man who’s a lifelong football fan and used to attend the matches with his late friend but after his death, he feels lonely and doesn’t want to sit in the stands on his own or even watch on TV. But then his wife rallies his family so they can all watch with him, ending his loneliness.

After the clip played, Susanna told the actor: “Oh Mark, what have you done to us? That is so moving.”

Mark said that when he was asked to direct the film, he wondered how he could express the subject of loneliness. He said: “There was something so close to home I almost missed it. I had two uncles, both of whom have passed away now, John and Michael, and they were quite close in age, they were more like twins really and they did everything together. They’d been watching Man Utd since the late ’50s, all through the decades.

“And quite out of the blue the older brother passed away and it broke my other uncle in half really, he lost half of himself. He was ok and the years went by until he passed away but those last 10 or 15 years he had without him he was never the same.”

GMB’s 1 Million Minutes campaign is now in its ninth year and aims to encourage viewers to pledge their time to charities that tackle the issues of loneliness. Since launching in 2016, a staggering 672 million minutes of time have been donated to charities in need of volunteers who can connect with those who feel alone.

Throughout the month of December, Good Morning Britain will be leading a series of events across the UK with additional ways for people to get involved, help themselves feel less lonely, or just pledge their time to help someone.

Good Morning Britain is on weekdays on ITV1 at 6am and on ITVX