The Colchester branch of Samaritans first opened its doors in May 1964, the year and month Claire Lawrence, my long-suffering mother was born. She is still with us don't worry this is not in memoriam. She however, was responsible for stopping me from "unaliving" myself as the kids say these days... thought I would go risk my life climbing some mountains, don't want her getting too comfortable haha. Joking aside, my greatest privilege in life was to have parents who love me, and each other. Guy Lawrence - what a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man! Whenever times were rough, and it felt like worse things didn't happen at sea, I always had someone to listen, even if many many times it can't have been easy to hear. Not everyone has. Samaritans are there 24/7 if ever you need someone to listen. I have called the Samaritans myself once. A nice young lad answered the phone, and helped me climb my own kind of symbolic mountain. It really did help not to walk it alone. So I have decided to climb the highest mountain in every European nation. I'm buying the cheapest tickets possible to each country and summiting their highest peak, until one by one my +44 challenge is complete. I volunteer with the Samaritans now myself, so decided to raise money for them.