**We would like to raise money for two charities but because of how Justgiving is setup you can't do this. So here's the link to our Justgiving donation page for the samaritans, we would like to try and keep the donations even but we will leave this to you guys to decide if you would rather donate to a specific charity**

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/declan-geraghty1?utm_source=copyLink&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=declan-geraghty1&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=75f7a8be6c254486b01986a65c5ffc6a

For those that don’t know me, my name is Declan Geraghty. This year, I sadly lost my cousin Tommy Harrigan as he took his own life. Tommy was such a bubbly, funny person, so unique in his character and mannerisms, there really wasn’t another Tom. However, despite the way he portrayed himself- he couldn’t get past the demons that never left him. With all conventional avenues turned to, the pain he carried was too heavy to deal with and he could not find the support he needed. 

With the mental health crisis worsening by the day, the same conventional avenues that Tommy used, now have extended waiting processes due to an increased usage. This will only lead other people in the same direction. People, when they reach ‘the bottom’, can’t see a way to escape their demons. Whether that's the feeling of being alone, or feeling like they are becoming a burden, or whatever the feeling is that they are dealing with that makes them not want to live anymore. I think we have all felt some of these irrational feelings at times in our lives, but some find it easier than others to get things off their chest and take the weight off their shoulders to realise exactly that, they are irrational. Some people, no matter how much love and support you try to give them, need professional, impartial help that our NHS is struggling to provide.

Suicide is an epidemic in this country, particularly for young men- it is the LARGEST killer in men under the age of 35. Furthermore, poor mental health is an issue that every individual will deal with at some point in their life, whether it be directly or indirectly, slightly or extreme, everyone experiences a bad patch at some point in their life. Life is hard, this world is not kind and it eventually takes a toll. Yet, there is still stigma around men showing how they feel. We hear phrases like ‘Man Up’ or ‘Don’t act like a girl’ in commonplace as if feelings are exclusive to women. Well, I say FUCK that.

Not a day has gone by where we haven't all been thinking about Tommy.

I’m trying to turn this all around in a ‘positive way’ and will be raising funds for Papyrus and Samaritans, two charities held close to my family’s heart, through a series of fundraisers. I am aiming to not only raise funds to help other people from feeling how Tommy felt but also to try and prevent anyone from feeling how my family and I feel now. 

This entire process and fundraiser will be planned and completed with my friend Louie Johnson. He has been a support network for me, as we lived together at University and has supported me in the dark days this year. When I told him I wanted to do a fundraiser in memory of Tommy, he said “What we gonna do then? You can’t do it alone.” Though we have been best friends for a long time, we too struggle to talk to each other about our issues. It is something we became aware of and are certainly getting better at. This is also an opportunity for us to practice what we are preaching. Louie has always been an advocate for mental health, he has had many people close to him that have suffered from depression and anxiety and has suffered from bouts of poor mental health himself. 

THE FUNDRAISER

6th MAY- TOUGHMUDDER 

We will be doing the tough mudder challenge to start our fundraiser. This will be an open event. We want as many people as we can to get together and do the tough mudder as one big team and have a great day out, the more the merrier. We would like anyone who knew Tommy, or feels as if they would love to get involved to try and raise some money, please could you give me or Louie a message on Facebook and we will give the details of everything! We are hoping we get a good few of us to try and make a pretty gruelling day, more enjoyable for us seeing everyone else in pain with us! 

JUNE- We will be doing a 212 Mile cycle across a 5 day period around a multitude of different Southern UK racecourses. This will be our real challenge. We are celebrating Tommy’s love for racing by cycling from Epsom racecourse on the 29th of May, and then cycling between 10 racecourses between Epsom, Brighton, Goodwood and many others. We will be hoping to be arriving back on Friday 2nd June (Oaks/Ladies Day) where whatever state our bodies are in, we will be enjoying a day at the races with Tommy firmly in our thoughts with Derby being one of his favourite weekends of the year.

The page can be found here: 

https://www.komoot.com/tour/963195425?ref=wtd-m#previewMap

JULY- We will be doing the 3 peaks challenge. Climbing the 3 tallest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales across a 24 hour period. This will be a seriously difficult task as well. A metaphor for overcoming mental health struggles as sometimes, it can feel like conquering a mountain. So we thought, what is a way of really challenging ourselves to that? This challenge requires 13 hours of just getting up and down the mountains, with Scafell Pike having to be climbed in the dark and just the little 9 hours of driving in between all this. We really wanted to try and challenge ourselves to do a fundraiser that really challenges us as we aren't the type to commit to things like this with much enthusiasm.