In October, I’m taking on 100 Miles in October to raise money for Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).

Now, anyone who knows me will know that I am not exactly built like an Olympic distance runner. My usual approach to cardio is walking slightly faster because I’m late, so committing to 100 miles in a month is going to be a genuine challenge.

But that’s exactly why I wanted to do it.

Through my work in education, first response and volunteering, I’ve spent a lot of time around people from all sorts of backgrounds and at very different points in their lives. One thing that has become increasingly obvious to me is that you often have absolutely no idea what somebody else is carrying.

People can look completely fine. They can be working, joking, teaching, studying, helping everyone else, going out with friends and getting on with life, while privately struggling far more than anyone around them realises.

That’s one of the reasons CALM is a cause I really believe in. CALM exists to help people through the messy reality of being human, and to make suicide prevention something that becomes part of everyday life. Their life-saving helpline, practical advice and resources give people somewhere to turn when things feel impossible.

And frankly, we need more of that.

We need to get better at asking people how they’re doing and actually listening to the answer. We need to make it normal to say when things aren’t going well. And we need people to know that reaching out for help isn’t something they should ever feel embarrassed about.

Stopping suicide starts with all of us, one act at a time.

So this is one of mine.

Throughout October, I’ll be walking, jogging, wheezing, regretting my life choices and somehow dragging myself through 100 miles.

(That’s roughly 3.2 miles every single day.)

For somebody considerably fitter than me, perhaps that doesn’t sound terrifying. For me, this may constitute an extreme sport. But there are two possible outcomes here: I get significantly fitter, or my legs formally submit their resignation. Either way, CALM gets some money, so everybody wins.

More importantly, every £12.20 raised could fund a potentially life-saving call to CALM’s suicide prevention helpline, helping somebody find a way forward when they might not be able to see one themselves.

So if you’re able to donate, whether it’s a couple of quid (or Dinar for my Bahraini friends!) or considerably more, I would genuinely appreciate it.

And if you can’t donate, sharing the page helps too.

I’ll provide updates throughout October, partly for accountability and partly so everyone can enjoy watching an unfit man discover previously unknown muscles.

100 miles. 31 days. One very worthwhile cause.

Thank you for supporting me, and more importantly, for supporting CALM and the work they do to unite against suicide.

Nat ❤️