Bevan is running the Manchester Marathon on 19th April to raise funds for Precious Counselling & Mentoring — a service offering culturally sensitive counselling and mentoring for adults, children and young people. After coming through a difficult period in his own life and overcoming depression, he wanted to do something that would help others get the support they need too.

This is Bevan's story:

My running journey started a year and a half ago when I decided to walk a minimum of 8,000 steps every day to try and encourage myself to do something different after falling into depression. I noticed I spent too much time sitting down and I needed to move more. So, I started by walking up the hill at Ally Pally, it was tough in the beginning, but after a few weeks it started becoming easy. I told myself I was going to run up the hill. On my first attempt I failed, I got halfway up the hill and I walked the rest, I felt defeated. That night I downloaded a 'Couch to 5k program' and I told myself I will run up that hill and I’ll run 5k. After a few weeks I ran up the hill in one go and I was hooked. So I signed up to run a 10k and then a half marathon (21.1k/13.1) miles and that's where it all began.

Running helped me with my mental health. It allowed me to forget about my problems for a little while and helped me to clear my mind. It helped me to build confidence because I found I could do difficult things if I put my mind to it.

On the 19th April I’ll be running for Precious Counselling and Mentoring to help someone get the support they need, when they need it!