I am raising funds to support a great local mental health charity and to honour a dear friend of mine, Richie Donovan. Richie was a legendary character and loved by everyone who crossed paths with him. A die hard Newport County fan, a famous Welsh ‘red wall’ fan (better known as the crying Welshman), a great friend and most importantly…. a family man.

I first met Richie when I started my career at Halifax Newport back in 2006. Richie was someone who I looked up to, aspire to be like and then became a great friend. Our friendship lead us to compete in half marathons, team triathlons, expeditions to snowdon, jumping off transporter bridges and an epic kayaking challenge raising money for charity. Richie was super fit and really looked after his body. He’d often remind me he was 15 years my senior, yet far fitter than I was. “ You need to loose some weight and you should be kicking my arse boy wonder”, he would say. Boy Wonder was my nick name, he had one for everyone. Our friendship remained after our Halifax days. We both set up businesses and we both supported eachother. If someone asked Richie for mortgage advice, “Boy wonder will sort it”, was his reply! And I would support Richie with anyone seeking pension and investment advice.

There were many days out, camping trips and fishing trips that we would go on. Richie’s son, Joe boy, was a simular age to my youngest brother, Josh. Thoes days out and weekends away will memories I will cherish forever.

When I received the phone call to say that Richie had taken his life, I was absolutely heartbroken. Its the first time I had experienced suicide and the first time I had given mental health any thought. I suppose I felt a little immune to mental health and took the attitute that ‘it doesn’t apply to me!’. This has motivated me to learn more about mental health and this is where I found the local charity group called ‘You’re Never Alone’. This small group is run by a local chap and is a very small and personal group designed to help people out in the local area. They fund raise to help with councelling, they run weekly wellbeing walks and they meet once a week for a chat. What a great thing this group is doing and if they can help a ‘Richie’, then they done their job.

So, onto the fund raising….. I wanted to set the bar high! Me and Richie were known for pushing the boundries and pushing ourselves, sometimes borderline on being a little daft. So in true Richie and Boy Wonder fashion, I’ve signed up to compete in an IronMan for those not familiar with IronMan, it starts with a 2.4 mile swim, followed by 112 miles on a bike and then finished off with a full marathon and you have 17 hours to complete the ultimate test of endurance. Because it is Ironman Wales that I will be competing in, there are hills…. And lots of them. With almost 10,000 feet of climbing on the bike…. and more climbing on the run…. Tenby Ironman is known to be one of the most difficult Ironman courses in the world. They nickname it ‘slaying the dragon!’. There are many variables that can stop a competitor completing the course, but, with Richie on my mind, and my brother Josh by my side, I will make sure I am in the best possible position to give it my best shot. I will be on the beach come Sept 3rd 2023. Richie would love it!!

Myself and Josh will be competing and hope to raise in excess of £2,500 to be donated to ‘You’re Never Alone’. If you would like to support us in Richie’s memory, i would be very grateful.

Josh, no pressure but you need to be on that beach with me and we will get through it together. There will be a pint of ale and a game of darts at the end for us, providing we get in before stop tap! #Seeyouonthebeach