During 2019 & 2020 I am fund raising for Andy’s Man Club. http://andysmanclub.co.uk

Andy's Man Club is a registered charity and aims to 'halve the number of suicides in men under 45’ and have created the #itsokaytotalk campaign with the goal to get men talking.

So far I have completed 6 sponsored events;

1) The first with my brothers Rob, Rory & Lorcan in London at Tough Mudder on May 4th 2019.

Tough Mudder London video link https://youtu.be/m677auyyTnw

2) Then on May 18th I ran Europes Toughest Mudder which was physically and mentally the hardest thing I have ever done… a 12hr obstacle race through the night.

Was the pain worth it? If it helps one person feeling depressed or suicidal help get the support they need then 100% yes!

Europes Toughest Mudder video link https://youtu.be/tQ2LBfvkysg

3) Tough Mudder South West with the kids - 17th August 2019

Lidl Mudder video link https://youtu.be/jxEEGjeODj4

4) Cardiff 10k - 1st September 2019

5) Cardiff Half Marathon - 6th October 2019

6) Olympic Velopark Half Marathon - 30th November 2019

7) Next up.... MANCHESTER MARATHON (Postponed) - 11th October 2020

There are currently 19 Andy’s Man Clubs in the UK with over 500 men every week attending the groups.

Suicide is still the single biggest killer of British men. The reasons are myriad, sometimes opaque and always individual, the campaign #itsokaytotalk is working to break the code of silence.

Male suicide has, quite rightly, received a great deal of attention in the media of late. Yet despite recently released figures showing male suicide rates in the UK have fallen to their lowest levels in more than 30 years – in 2017, there were 4,383 male suicides according to data from the Office For National Statistics – death by suicide remains the biggest killer in men between 15 and 45 in the UK. Overall, men, shockingly, still make up three-quarters of those who take their own life in this country.

We all have that quiet thing locked away, something unspoken, something that is hard to confront. These darker memories are at times made all the more intimidating because, with good reason, they aren’t often shared. But it’s time we all listened, learnt and talked to one another more, to take the threat out of the memories and dismantle the architecture around the stigma of suicide.

Traditionally, men find it harder to open up, to exercise their vulnerabilities, to get their emotions out in the open. Analysis suggests this is why men more than women feel the only solution is to end their lives. The silence around suicide must be confronted, not only by the government, which must provide more funding for mental health charities, but by each and every one of us, men and women, turning to our friends, a family member, our colleagues and asking, “Are you OK?”

Key facts (2017)

In 2017 there were 6,213 suicides in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Of these, 5,821 suicides were registered in the UK and 392 occurred in the Republic of Ireland.

In the UK, men are three times as likely to take their own lives than women.

In the Republic of Ireland, men are four times more likely to take their own lives than women.

In the UK, the highest suicide rate was for men aged 45-49.

In the Republic of Ireland, the highest suicide rate was for men aged 25–34 (with an almost identical rate for men aged 45–54).

In Northern Ireland, suicide rates for both men and women are higher than other UK nations – however rates are not necessarily directly comparable.

Please join me in supporting Andy's Man Club.