Hi, I’m Gary, a 56-year-old father of two and husband to Sally and in 2025 I will be attempting to complete two Iron distance triathlon events to raise money for a local mental health charity ‘Don’t lose hope’.

The charity was set-up in 2018 in Bourne Lincolnshire to provide accessible counselling services and support for all age groups within our community, with all Counsellors being members of the British association of Counsellors and psychotherapy or the National Counselling Society.

The charity receives no government funding, with all money coming from the Don’t Lose Hope Café, gift shop, charitable donations and fund-raising events such as this.

Having experienced first-hand the devastating impact poor mental health can have on friends and family, I want to help raise awareness of the services this charity offers so that more people can reach out for much needed support. My aim is to raise enough money for the charity to deliver 200 counselling sessions, which equates to around 25 blocks of 8 sessions or £6k in total.

I am not a novice to Ironman racing, having completed a few events several years ago, but this now seems a lifetime away and the cumulative fitness I gained during my years competing has largely been lost supporting local ale and curry houses! The changes I am making to my lifestyle to be successful in this double challenge are significant, especially considering the second of the two events, Ironman Wales, is known to be one of the most challenging Ironman events in the world, but none of these changes compare to the challenge many people have to deal with every day of their lives.

So, I embrace this challenge and hope to be able to raise as much money as possible to be able to make a real difference to people’s quality of life, so if you can please give your support to this wonderful charity.