Most people know that me Dad and I are best mates. We’ve been to 100s of football matches together, ran half a dozen races together and have done almost every route of Snowdon together.

What most people don’t know is that my Dad grew up in the care system and was fortunate enough to be placed in a Barnardos care home for which he is still grateful to this day. Whenever he can, he still raises money for Barnardos which included running up Snowdon for his 60th (yes sixtieth) birthday.

More than 1 in 3 young people do not feel positive about their future and 41% of young people have worried about their mental wellbeing in the previous six months.* Therefore Co-op have teamed up with Barnardos to raise £7m to tackle these issues facing young people and produce safe, reliable and shareable online support that can be accessed by any community.

So next year, a team of us Co-op colleagues will be spending 5 days trekking through the Saghro Mountains in Morocco to contribute to this target!

I’ve gone from running marathons in 2023 to sitting on me arse for most of 2025 so there’ll be lots of training to be done and opportunities for me to beg for donations before November, but I’m looking forward to carrying the family mantle of fundraising for Barnardos and hope you can spare a few quid to sponsor me - cheers!

Find out more: coop.co.uk/SupportYoungPeople

* Youth Opportunities Tracker: Fairer Futures, Co-op & Barnardo’s, May 2023