The Team:

Al Russell,  Archie Cochrane,  Beetle Everett,  Charles Henson, Fin Reid,  Freddie Campbell,  Gareth Davies,  Geordie Laing,  Harry Jeffries, Henry Larthe,  Hughie Pike,  Isabella Birch Reynardson,  Jack Hamshaw,  Luciana Birch Reynardson,  Rory Musgrave,  Hugo Saunders,  Sam Shepherd-Baron,  Shane Cooke,  Tim Lowe, Will Smibert

Support:

Anna Spooner, Charlie Dawson, Imogen McCann, Poppy Everett

They call it the holy s*** number, the statistics are
shocking. Every two hours a man in the UK takes his own life, that’s 12 a day
and 84 every single week. Suicide claims the lives of more than 6,000 British
men and woman every year and is the single biggest killer of men under 45 in
the UK. Every single suicide directly affects 135 people – people like us,
people like you. Beyond the unthinkable emotional cost, every single suicide
costs an estimated £1.67 million – a cost to families, friends and the wider
society.

On Saturday 5th May 2018, Rory Musgrave’s brother in law and
good friend Oliver Chapman took his own life aged 39, leaving behind Laetitia,
his wife of six years and his two young sons Wilf, now two and a half and
Arthur 15 months. They lived happily in Somerset, just outside Somerton, where
Olly worked at Savills, as part of the South West Farm Agency team based in
Exeter. 

Olly had an infectious love for life, always had a smile on
his face and brought the best out in everyone. He talked to everybody and
anybody, taking a keen interest in everything you did and would always be the
first to congratulate you, thank you, or commiserate with you.  An all-round thoroughly good lad is how many would
often describe him.  He had an immense
love for his home county of Somerset, farming, field sports and his beloved
rugby team Bath.

So, in memory of Oliver. 20 mad amateur cyclists will be taking
on a gruelling challenge, cycling 238 miles with 14,770ft of elevation, over
three days (Friday 24 May – Sunday 26 May) in the Highlands of Scotland. With an average elevation
of 4,923 feet a day, it should be sufficiently tough and will rival some of the
stages of this year’s Tour de France.

Day 1 will consist of 90 miles, 8 hours in the saddle,
starting in Fort William and finishing up in Ardarroch. The day will consist of
a short ferry ride from Mallaig to Armadale where some well earnt rest will be
needed. Day 2 totals 86 miles starting in Ardarroch finishing 8.5 hours later
in Aultbea. The highlight of the day, which comes almost immediately will be
climbing the Bealach na Ba pass, a 5.7 mile stretch which climbs a total elevation
of 2,053 ft.  Its rated as one of the top
climbs in the UK and is not for the faint hearted. The final day, Aultbea to Altnacealgach
is 62 miles with total elevation of 4,105 ft, finishing at the Altnacealgach
Pub where a well earnt beverage will be greatly received.

We will be
cycling in aid of the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) who are leading
a movement against suicide. https://www.thecalmzone.net/

So, what are CALM
and what do they do?

CALM’s helpline and webchat gives anyone the chance to
offload and talk through problems. The professional helpline staff offer
support, information and help finding specialist services.

CALM challenges a culture that insists that a man who seeks
support is somehow less of a man. We need to raise awareness of the issue so
that everyone knows suicide is the single biggest cause of death of men under 45. We need to show
that being silent isn’t being strong and push for change to improve suicide
prevention policies and practices.

Join us on our journey by following our instagram page: Cycle for CALM

What you can do?
– We please ask if you could kindly donate, big or small, anything would be an
incredible help. Please visit the following link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising-edit/cyclingforCALMintheScottishHighlands
 

What will your money
do?

£7 can pay for
one call that could save a life.

£23 pays someone
to take calls for an hour

£80 pays for
CALM’s website for a day

£160 keeps one
phone line open from 5pm to midnight for one evening

£1,200 runs our
entire helpline for an evening, allowing CALM to take nearly 200 calls a night

£4,000 can fund
an entire issue of the CALMzine

We will keep you updated on the fundraising, the training
and the entire challenge, so please follow us and give as generously as you
can, both in memory of Oliver, but also to help prevent suicide in young men
who have so much more life to give.