Good afternoon Folks, For those of you that have known me a long time you know I haven’t always been this stand up gentleman you see before you 😇

and that my actions and behaviours haven’t always been that of a completely sane person.. I spent a lot of time, not knowing who or what I was supposed to be so I was no one and I did nothing of any real purpose to anyone. To my own detriment, I used drink and drugs to hide from the trauma I’d dealt with from a very young age and imploded on myself and damaged everyone around me at the same time through my behaviour and my inability to seek help.

I lost my oldest sister 13 years ago due to her battle with her own severe mental health conditions and then continued to put my family through the same thing for another 10 years. I was a lost little boy in a man’s body scrambling around but just hurting myself and everyone around me.

I was LUCKY enough to have what I can only say was some kind of spiritual awakening and through help of others and a lot of hard work I was able to turn my life around completely and everything is different now but I also know that it isn’t that easy for everyone, like I say I’m one of the lucky ones.

I used to just be waiting for death and now everyday I feel grateful to be alive.

The reason I am sharing all this nonsense is because I know that there are probably people out there who feel like I felt and ultimately my dream is to create a space where people, especially men feel safe to be open, honest and most importantly vulnerable with each other about how they feel.

A place that feels safe to talk and to heal because community is the key to helping to do that and hopefully soften a little bit of the world 🤷‍♂️

I’m not saying I have any of the answers and I’m definitely not an expert but I do have an experience and until the time i am able to creat something of my own, there is Mind.

A charity that is doing everything it can to provide mental health resources where they’re needed and their work in schools and communities across the country.

And I thought, well I’m running the Manchester Marathon in April anyway (which is fkin madness in itself) so why not try and raise some money for a cause that is important to me.

I know times are hard so there’s no real expectations and there is no goal I have to reach but if you’ve got a spare quid or two and fancy sponsoring me then I would be very grateful and appreciative 😇

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk, I’ve Been David McLaughlin.