****UPDATE****
On Sunday 6th September we finished the last of our runs in Glasgow. We can't thank everyone enough for all the financial and emotional support you have given, it has been just incredible. With gift aid, and hopefully Diageo adding a further £1500 to the fund, we will have raised over £4000 for Papyrus......something we are incredibly proud of.
Thanks again and lots of love to you all, Tony & Yvonne On 23rd March 2009 we lost our wee brother Paul. He was only 32. Most probably unaware of the support that was available to him and unable to see the love felt for him, Paul, driven by a dreadful illness, took the only route he saw available and tragically took his own life.
In Scotland, suicide is the biggest killer of young men under the age of 35. As a result of social stigmas and culture, it is widely perceived that Scottish men do not feel 'allowed' to talk about their issues and instead seek ways to rationalise their thoughts on their own. Tragically, this leads to 3 times more young men harming themselves in this way than women.
As the majority of readers of this page have seen, the devastation caused by Paul's death has been felt not only by us and his parents, but by his children, his friends and everyone connected with us all. The ripple effect reaches hundreds of people.
We had set ourselves a challenge at the start of 2009 to each run a 10k race during the year, but given the current climate we chose at that time to do it for ourselves rather than for a charity and not burden you with a request for sponsorship.
However, we believe we have an opportunity to attempt to prevent another family going through the horror we are currently experiencing and will do for a long time - it is an opportunity we simply cannot miss. We are reaching out to you to help us raise as much as possible for Papyrus, which is a leading charity in the prevention of suicides in young people across the UK and who also work tirelessly to raise awareness of an issue which so many find difficult to talk about. Please take time to visit the Papyrus UK website, www.papyrus-uk.org
On Sunday 10th May Yvonne completed her first ever 10k in Glasgow and Tony completed the Men's Health 10k on June 21st - the pictures at the side of this page have proof we did them!! In September we will both do the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow. Your sponsorship will cover both of us for all races we take part in and all monies raised will be in memory of Paul.
We cannot thank you enough for the support you have given the whole family over the course of the last few weeks and, as a result of your sponsorship, there could be a family somewhere else in the UK who appreciate your support just as much......even though they may never know it.
Tony and Yvonne
