In loving memory of James Hammonds who died by suicide aged 19 in 2013, I pledged to complete two sponsored 10 mile walks to raise money for charity Clasp. Since the first walk in London on the 12th of May, donations have reached £1100 which is incredible and I am really so grateful for everyone’s support. 

For the second part of this challenge my sister Sarah and I are joining forces to try and raise even more.

Sadly, due to building work in the area, the event organisers have had to shorten the route to 10km.  However, we will still be walking through our home town of Bristol together with our family and friends, to raise as much as we can. We want to raise awareness and to work towards helping others like James. We would also like to help prevent other families from the immeasurable suffering caused by suicide.

Losing a loved one to suicide is the most painful, shocking and soul destroying experience. It has taken a long time to come to terms with the fact that James is gone and that the questions we are left with will never be answered.  James was an amazing brother and son, a loving Uncle, he had a brilliant sense of humour, he liked The Wire and The Sopranos, he loved film, he always put huge thought into gifts, he was generous, kind, gentle, he was very funny, he was incredibly strong and had battled with depression since the age of 15. There is nothing that we can do to bring him back and it is a tragedy because he was an amazing young man whose life was cut short due to an illness which can be incredibly hard to treat. Depression IS treatable, suicide IS preventable, but it’s not easy or straightforward and so much more needs to be done to work towards preventing suicide. 

If anyone would like to kindly donate we would really appreciate even the smallest donation and if anyone would like to join us on the walk please get in touch, as it would be great to have you with us raising money for such an important cause! You can register for Walking out of Darkness at Eventbrite.co.uk.

Men in the UK aged 20 to 49 are more likely to die from suicide than any other cause of death.

Approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year. In England, 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (such as anxiety and depression) in any given week. 

One person in fifteen has made a suicide attempt at some point in their life.

CLASP Charity assists to Empower, Inspire and Support the Public, Businesses and Services to increase Mental Health Awareness & Suicide Prevention, whilst ending the stigma surrounding Mental Illness.

WALKING OUT OF DARKNESS 2018

In 2018, we are proud to announce 7 ‘Walking Out Of Darkness’ events from May to October (Mental Health Awareness Week to World Mental Health Day) in London, Nottingham, York, Brighton, Bristol, Norwich and Birmingham.

We invite everyone to join us at 'Walking Out Of Darkness' to walk with your family, friends and work colleagues; supporting people suffering mental ill-health, helping end the stigma surrounding mental illness, raising mental health awareness, creating zero suicide communities and fundraising for local and regional charities, across the country.

Please donate anything you can!

Jenny and Sarah xxx

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