Hi, my name is Damien and this is my story.

I was part of a fundraising team who made national headlines when our 2011 attempt at the National 3 Peaks Challenge didn't quite go to plan. We mistook "Stob Ban" in the Scottish Highlands for Ben Nevis and 2 of our team went missing for 14 hours while scaling Scafell Pike in the Lake District. We didn't even bother with Snowdon! Little were we to know that our "failure" would spark so much interest, but we were soon to find our faces splashed all over the media! Our story was published in The Sun, Telegraph and Sunday Times, just to name a few as well as being interviewed on Radio 2, Radio 4, Radio 5 and BBC Points West. My favourite highlight was being mocked on BBC’s "Have I Got News For You"! The media coverage helped us raise over £15,000 for charity and I was subsequently nominated & chosen as an Olympic Torchbearer in the run up to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Fast forward to 2020 and 10 years on from my original attempt; My friends and ServiceNow colleagues encouraged me to do the 3 Peaks Challenge again, but this time to do it properly!. This will be a tribute, in memory of 2 amazing people;

** My brother Kieran who passed away in February 2020, aged just 40.
** My friend Greg, who passed away in June 2020, aged just 29.

My brother Kieran suffered with anxiety and depression & was receiving professional help. I had no idea that anything was troubling Greg. Both of them, tragically, took their own lives.

This is why I've chosen to support Mind, as they won't give up until everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets support and respect.

As part of the challenge, we plan to raise awareness around depression and anxiety, and also suicide prevention. Depression affects 264+ million people worldwide and close to 800,000 people die worldwide, due to suicide every year.

For anyone worried about me getting lost again - I have registered as part of an official MIND team, in conjunction with "Charity Challenge", who have vast experience in organising a safe and responsible challenge. I initially intended to complete this in 2020, but COVID restrictions delayed my efforts until Sept 2nd 2022. Watch this space for more updates!

Donating through JustGiving is easy, safe and secure. Thank you so much to all my friends, family and my ServiceNow colleagues for helping me honour Kieran & Greg and raising awareness of mental health in their memory x