My brother Archie took his own life on November 16 2020 after a long struggle with his mental health - this was the worst day of my life. He would have been 26 on May 2nd 2022. 

He was my best friend for all of his adult life and a large part of mine. We had a special relationship. We travelled the world together, shared common interests, sense of humor and genuinely loved spending time together.

My family and I have been devastated by this loss, we knew that it was probably coming unlike in so many other instances, but why couldn't we stop it? I know that I was in denial, it's a hard thing to talk about, but even though we did talk about it sometimes, we still couldn't stop it from happening. I think a big part of the reason was that we didn't know what to do or say. Because it's been a taboo subject for so long no one knows how to tackle the idea that someone you love so much might actually do the unthinkable and take their own life. This has to change, we need to keep the conversation open and raise awareness because suicide IS preventable.

I am doing this ride to raise money for the charity Papyrus which is specifically focused on suicide prevention in young people. You can find more information on suicide prevention and how to spot the signs and what to do if you think someone may be at risk on their website:

https://www.papyrus-uk.org/

My brother Archie did so much in his short life, he travelled to 40 odd countries across 4 continents, he'd probably done more than I had and I'm 6 years older than him. One of his biggest achievements was cycling from lands end to John O'Groats. he did this 5 years ago in October 2017 when he was just 21 years old! He was already struggling at that point and he enjoyed doing challenges and travelling to take his mind off his negative thoughts.

During his final year he discovered that the negative and far fetched thoughts that plagued him and made his life a living hell at times was a symptom of OCD, I didn't know much about OCD but after doing some research I now know that it is not a term  used to describe someone who likes to keep things tidy in their house but actually a debilitating mental health condition which makes you doubt your morals and instincts. It plagues you with terrifying intrusive thoughts and begins to destroy the fabric of reality for the sufferer. OCD carries a high risk of suicide so although I choose to do my cycle ride for Papyrus I also wanted to raise awareness of what OCD really is so that we can remove the stigma and begin to understand that it's a dangerous condition that can be life threatening.

It's estimated that 1% of the population suffers from OCD and I doubt many people know what it actually is so please take some time to look at some info here:

https://www.ocduk.org/

I will be doing this ride on the same bike as Archie which is pictured in the cover photo of this page. I aim to raise as much money as possible for this great cause so anyone who can spare some money please donate.

RIP Archie, I miss you so much.