To celebrate 20 years of Growing Well and my 60th Birthday, I'm going to do my own Great North Triathlon. I'll be swimming across 5 lakes, cycling the Hadrian's Wall cycleway (coast to coast) and running the Great North Run.

It's going to be a BIG CHALLENGE - having your support (and your money!) will keep me motivated and hopefully I'll make it to the finish line on Sunday 8th September.

Here's a bit of background on Growing Well - where I'm the manager for the Sizergh site near Kendal.

Growing Well are a Cumbrian based mental health charity who provide support to individuals struggling with some aspect of their mental health through practical, meaningful activity in our horticultural enterprises.

Beneficiaries attend for one day per week for up to a year and leave equipped with new skills and better able to manage their own mental wellbeing on an ongoing basis.

We receive no statutory funding and as a Charity have to fundraise all of our running costs.

In 2023 we opened a second site in Tebay and in 2024 added a third site in Egremont to complement our original site near Kendal ensuring that no individual in Cumbria is more than one hour away from being able to access the unique support that Growing Well offers.