“Mental Illness is not contagious, you can’t catch it by
being kind! Just like every other person, I have my down days – days where I feel sad, anxious and depressed. A few years ago I realised that exercise not only helped to improve my fitness but also helped to reduce these feelings and to improve my mental health overall.”

Hi, my name is Ryan, I’m a Shaw graduate and over the past
few months I have had the privilege of getting to know a man named Alwyn.

Spending time with Alwyn has sparked my passion for mental health and I wanted to do something to help him and others like him. After
thinking about the way I care for my own mental health, I decided to research the benefits of exercise. It is widely accepted that exercise helps to reduce anxiety, depression and improves overall well-being. 

Exercise is the most underused anti-depressant drug there is.

Alwyn has been helping me through my training and has been supporting me with my running and swimming and will support me in crossing the finishing line. I will share a few snapshots of our training progress.

As well as improving Alwyn's awareness of the positive benefits of fitness, we are hoping to support others with mental health diagnosis by fundraising for our chosen charity "MIND". 

Your donations will contribute towards reducing mental health stigma and to make sure everyone experiencing mental health illness gets both support and respect they deserve.

All donations will be hugely appreciated!

Thank you.