Hiya!

I’m Henry and I am a 29 year old recovering addict!

I have set myself the challenge of running a distance of 100 miles on April 6th 2025 and between now and that date, I want to raise 1 million pounds for the charity, Stride Foundation.

I have decided to face my aversion to social media, so, over the next 14 months, I am going to blog not only my physical but my mental journey from 0 to 100 miles.

It's very hard for me to publicly share my truth but on 19th June 2019, weighing 120kg, unable to walk up a flight of stairs without losing my breath, after a decade of ever worsening binges and mental breakdowns, I had my last drink and drug.

Since that date, I have trudged through years of daily work to try and regain my physical health, self-esteem and above all my peace of mind.

What I didn’t realise, when entering the world of sobriety and a 12-step program, was that putting down the substances was only the beginning. I needed continuous help and support – which I was lucky enough to find and when I needed professional help, was able to afford.

Support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous are what I believe to be the foundation of sobriety however, for many, they either need professional help or are completely unaware that they are suffering with a life-threatening disease, alcoholism and/or addiction.

This is where Stride Foundation steps in. Founded by a dear friend and mentor, Paul Sculfor, in 2017. Following his own experience with alcoholism, Paul wanted to give back to the sober community. Spearheading this intimate, grass roots charity, Paul has been raising money, to help provide high impact support to those who cannot afford it. Since it was founded, Paul & Stride have helped numerous people regain their lives by providing different types of therapy and when possible, space in a rehabilitation centre, if that person cannot otherwise afford it.

Completely indebted and so inspired by people such as Paul and others in the sober community, I feel I must do my part – hence setting myself this challenge. Stride is about to launch a schools’ outreach program, in which they will educate students and teachers with school talks, on the realities, signs and solutions to this aggressively worsening mental health disease. Which is affecting 1 in 10 people.

As I got sober at 25, my memories from school years are very fresh, it was a very difficult time, as it is for many. Aside from the early use of drugs and alcohol, there were many red flags, that myself and those around me were quite clearly oblivious to. I truly believe that with some basic level of education on the mental health disease, I could have sought help sooner and saved myself from a lot of pain and quite frankly, multiple life-threatening situations.

I feel extremely passionate about this soon to launch program and the possibility of support packages that could follow. We want to put a big speedbump in the development of this killer disease in young people, so that they may have a chance at experiencing a happy and healthy life that every human deserves.

I want to share with you what living with alcoholism and addiction can be like!

So please help me with my ambitious challenge of raising awareness, hope and of course money, by following, sharing and donating! Every penny helps!

If you are struggling or know someone who is, help is out there! Stridefoundation.com is a fantastic place to start!

Peace and love to you all!

Henry