We're raising money in memory of our cherished friend Mark Richardson, known to many as Smiler. 

Tragically in the summer of 2018 Mark took his own life after an intense battle with mental illness. Family and friends from home, school, university, farming, cricket and the local community are all coming together to raise money in Mark's memory for CALM, a charity dedicated to preventing male suicide.

Early last year Mark got in touch with a few of us to see if we wanted to "do Burghley" in 2019. We thought he meant watching the horse trials with a few beers in the September sunshine, and naively signed up. But no, what he actually meant was the notorious Rat Race, a cross country ordeal over 200 obstacles around the grounds of Burghley Park, run over 13, 20 or 40 (!) miles.

The race is being held on the 11th May (and some us may still be going on the 12th...). you can find out about it at https://ratracedirtyweekend.co.uk

Getting filthy dirty and exhausted with a bunch of mates, then swapping ridiculous stories in the pub (with his always being the most ridiculous) was vintage Smiler.

But as we can't run the race with him, we're going to run it for him.

We all have different goals, and are doing different distances. Many of us haven't so much as run for a bus in recent years, so just getting around is going to be the challenge. We also have a group whose knees have long since given up on such exploits, and this crowd will be doing an epic cycle ride round the Lincolnshire countryside while the rest of us battle through the mud.

The statistics on male suicide (well, all suicide) are truly shocking. It's the number one killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK.  If, through
supporting CALM, we can help even one person to pause and seek help then all the training, mud, injuries and effort will have been worth it. 

According to CALM...
£8 can answer one potentially life-saving call
£20 can put CALM materials in the hands of campaigners
£80 can run the CALM website for a day
£170 keeps one phone line open from 5pm to midnight for an evening

A friend from university summed Mark up perfectly...

"He truly burned the brightest and lit up every room I ever saw him walk into". 

If you're here because you knew Mark, or if you have a friend who's part of our team, or if you just want to support the work that CALM does, thank you for your support.

Whatever you're able to donate will make a difference.