In August, I will be cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End (roughly 920  miles) in 10 days  in aid of The Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH). I’m hoping to raise loads of money of course.

As many of you will know my brother took his own life last September, and it’s been a thoroughly shite period for my family and all his friends. I started planning this a few months ago, with more than enough motivation. Since then, we’ve all been shocked by the death of Kieran, who was probably one of the most cheerful guys I knew. I’m therefore more motivated than ever to try to make a difference, even if it’s just to get people talking about suicide and mental health.

I’ve chosen to raise money for SAMH who, as the leading mental health charity in Scotland, exist to support those suffering from mental health and the families of those affected by suicide. They’re running a campaign called Two Too Many, which centres around the fact that on average 2 people a day commit suicide in Scotland. Any money you donate will be used to raise awareness and challenge the stigma associated with suicide and to support those at risk.

My task is to cycle the 920 miles from the top of the UK to the bottom in just 10 days, which is roughly 92 miles a day to those no paying much attention. You can be fairly sure that my arse will be in tatters by the end (and  not in the way that Mavor’s used to). I’m using my own bike, which isn’t particularly expensive and definitely isn’t designed for this much road cycling, so I’ll be struggling from the start. If that isn’t enough to move you into handing over your cash, there will also be 1000s more miles cycled in training, and many pounds spent by me to book B&Bs along the way. I stuck a target of £1000 on my just giving page, so hopefully we can reach that and more.

Please donate anything you can. I know some of yous seem to always be skint (ie. Steven Miller), but you’ve got 3 months to save so this excuse will not be accepted. Your money will make a massive impact on what can only be described as a completely neglected issue.

Thanks for reading this. Please donate. Also share this with anyone who would be interested/has just been paid.

 

Lewis