Mental Health issues is a silent killer in our society and there is a continuous growing number of suicides in the Highlands. A lot of people struggle and are unable to get the help and support they need, so they suffer in silence instead. Way too often this leads strugglers to believe that suicide is the only option.

 Mikey's line is a helpline in the highlands where dedicated volunteers listen to you when you need support and help you to get the help you need. Where appropriate they support you through some skills based CBT coping strategies.

Mikeysline was founded in 2015 following the tragic deaths of good friends, within 48 hours of each other. This heartbreaking loss of life only added to the growing number of suicides in the Highland area. Speaking to Martin and Michael’s peers at their wake, Ron Williamson, Mikey’s uncle, heard that young people felt that they had nowhere to go when they were at a loss when struggling with mental health issues. So Ron, founded Mikeysline with the aim of changing this so that others might receive the help and support that Mikey needed.

When I myself struggled with mental health issues when I was in uni, and my wife struggled while she started her career working for the NHS in the Highlands, we were fortunate to get the help we needed. We soon realised that was not for everyone when we saw colleagues drop out and heard stories from friends and people in their families.

We have always felt very welcome in the Highlands after we moved up from the Netherlands. Biking has always been my personal helpline, and knowing how difficult life can be sometimes, I feel like raising money for a great cause by doing the thing I love most is a great way to give back to our community.

The Strathpuffer is a 24-hour mountain bike race in the middle of winter in the Highlands. The goal is to ride as many laps of 12.5 miles each in the middle of nowhere in the north of Scotland. By doing so I hope to raise as much money as possible to help funding Mikey's Line.