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On 7th May 2021, I will be setting off from RAF Coningsby on a 76 Mile run, 76 to commemorate 76 years since VE Day, to and from RAF Cranwell through RAF Waddington and Lincoln. I will be finishing at Woodhall Spa memorial that night.

About two years ago, I had some mental health issues which affected my family. It started with me not talking, and allowing issues to build up, telling myself "I'm a man, I can deal with it" until I couldn't, and I broke. I started asking myself "what's the point?", it was then that it became dangerous. There was dark thoughts at points and i had pushed myself into a corner.  My wife started to ask questions, but whenever she asked if I was OK, I would tell her I was fine. She knew it wasn't and helped, she finally got me to talk. By that point, I had moved out of the family home, but she persisted, and we attended counselling. It felt like a weight had been lifted, progressively after each session. Between the counselling sessions, Heather (my wife) pressed me to talk to her more about what I was going through. The counselling was helping us, but she knew I was holding back - I was still being a "man". As I write this, I realise how lucky I am, and how different things would be for my boys, had I not had someone there to speak to.  A lot of people have issues and suffer for a long time, many never make it out - so this is my way of grabbing your attention. I want it to be made less of a stigma to talk about mental health. I can't stand the thought of my boys suffering, and feeling like they need to keep going, because they are a man, and that's what men do. If running 76 miles is what it's going to take to raise awareness for mental health, it's worth it. It needs to be made known that no one is alone in their struggles, and that there are outlets and help available for them. There is ALWAYS help available, there is ALWAYS someone you can talk to about how you are feeling.

This event has not been possible to plan, without the help and support of the RAF, nor has it been possible without Woodhall Spa Steamers Running Club. It goes without saying that the RAF have been amazing in their support of this run, but Spa Steamers, Captained by Helen and Henry Fletcher, together with an club of amazingly supportive individuals, have offered their free time, to help aid water stations and run alongside me during the last leg of the run. With my colleagues in the RAF, The RAF Benevolent Fund, my Wife and Children, and my friends within Woodhall Spa Steamers, I know that I can make an amazing attempt at completing the run.