Fundraising ride from lands end to John o’groats for Orkney mental health charity and British heart foundation

Didn’t quite know where to post this on the site but wanted to do what I could to raise awareness of their upcoming trip. If there’s a better place please let me know.

A friend up here is doing a sponsored ride from land’s end to John o’groats raising money for the local mental health charity I work at and the British heart foundation. Any support, or just messages of encouragement before they set off would be hugely appreciated!

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/cyclejog

He has found cycling in has really helped him manage his mental health and wants to highlight the importance of good physical health in relation to maintaining good mental health.

Here is his story:

In 2004 I tried to take my own life. This was caused by an undiagnosed mental illness which I had tried to ignore and downplay throughout my teens. What followed was many years of treatment and recovery. This involved a lot of work personally, support from my family as well as medication and involvement with the Community Mental Health Team and my support worker at The Blide Trust.

The Community Mental Health Team were a great support, but being over stretched and understaffed there were limits to what they were able to do immediately. The Blide Trust were there for me as soon as I needed, with no waiting list, no hoops to jump through and no judgement.

As well as receiving support from a key worker at the Blide, I was able to gain further confidence learning coping mechanisms as well as every day skills for building my self esteem and getting back on my feet.

I suffer from social anxiety and manning the drop in centre encouraged me to leave the house on days I might otherwise have not managed, without the pressure associated with a paid job.

I have learnt to manage my condition over the years and have found that, for me, exercise is the most important thing I can do to keep my mental health stable. I am in a much better place now, but I take comfort in knowing the Blide is there, just a short walk or a phone call away if and when I need them.

While the Blide receive about half the money they need to operate, they have to fundraise the rest.

I am cycling from Lands End to John o’Groats for the challenge, for my mental health and for The Blide Trust, a charity I care very much about

Good luck to him / the three of them.

Thanks very much! I’m meeting them today as they’re speaking at our charity’s members meeting this afternoon so I’ll pass that on!