I attended my first Andy’s Man Club a year ago. When I first walked through the doors, I was at a low point and I needed something. I wasn’t sure what that was, but I was just going to give it a go. It turned out what I needed was to talk, and Andy’s Man Club was a great place to get stuff off my chest.

Since then, it's become a big part of my life, and I’ve become a facilitator supporting the Chelmsford group. Every Monday, I see men from all walks of life walk through those doors just like I did.

I don’t run; my son Eli does. So I’m taking on this 10k challenge with him. We will be racing to raise money for Andy’s Man Club because so many men don’t get this chance. Every 2 hours, a man loses his life to suicide. Those sons and fathers don’t get the opportunities I get.

So here we go. I’m very out of shape, Eli is visually impaired, and we may cause carnage on the track, but we’re doing this. And the whole way around, we will be thinking of our friend Darren, who sadly lost his mental health battle in May this year.