James Hastings
James 's Mind. Mental. Milestones.
Fundraising for Mind
Story
Mind…Mental…Milestones
In May 2020, I completed my first serious charity event, raising over £3,000 by running 8km a day during May for the Teenage Cancer Trust. This challenge was in response to hearing the devastating news that one of my best mates had been diagnosed with Leukaemia Cancer, aged just 21. Since then I have always had a desire to take on a new challenge…a challenge that would test my commitment and endurance to a higher level.
2020 has been a year of extreme uncertainty, difficulties, anxiety, challenges and according to the Mind Charity, we find ourselves this Christmas in a “Mental Health Emergency”. It has affected every single one of us; how we work, the grieving at the loss of loved ones, cancellations of plans, hunger, isolation, restricted social life, regular change and missed opportunities. It has been an incredibly tough year for everyone across this country and indeed the world.
Not everyone has a loving family, a caring partner or supportive friends who they can share their concerns with.
Many people suffer alone, in silence and struggle to ever see a way out of their own personal “dark tunnel”. Challenges seem overwhelming. Problems seem unresolvable. Battles seem pressurising. It can spiral and lead to depression, starvation, alcoholism, drugs, self-harm, homelessness and suicide.
- 1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem each year, with 1 in 6 people reporting an experience each week
- Over the course of someone’s lifetime, 1 in 5 people have suicidal thoughts, 1 in 14 self-harm and 1 in 15 attempt suicide
- June 2020, 19% of adults were experiencing at least moderate depression
- 24% of women and 13% of men in England are diagnosed with depression in their lifetime
- In the UK, suicide is the leading cause of death among young people aged 20-34 years and for men aged under 50
- Mental illness is the second-largest source of burden of disease in England
- There were 602,000 cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2018/19 in Great Britain
- Between 20 March and 30 March 2020, almost half (49.6%) of people in Great Britain reported "high" (rating 6 to 10) anxiety
Mind Charity provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. Mind work in partnership with the English Football League to raise awareness of mental health and to encourage men and women to talk and seek help.
In order to support such an invaluable charity in 2021 I will be running 1939km - the distance between the current 24 Championship Club’s grounds, starting and finishing at Carrow Road. I intend to achieve this by completing each of the following mini challenges.
2 marathons - Mental Health is the Second Biggest Disease in England
24 half marathons – The Number of Clubs in the Championship
75 ten kilometres - The Anniversary Mind are Celebrating in 2021
125 five kilometres – The Number of UK Mind Centres
Effectively, this means that I will be completing a run every two out of three days during 2021 and averaging a distance of 5.37km each day.
It is so important to talk and not just suffer alone. By raising awareness and money I hope this will go towards providing the help needed to encourage men and women of all ages to open up and talk about their life challenges and difficulties. I will do monthly updates on Facebook but for more regular updates head to my Strava, Instagram (Mind.Mental.Milestones) or Just Giving page (https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/james-hastings2021)
If you would like to donate, then please head to my Just Giving page; every donation will be very much appreciated. There will be the inevitable hurdles facing me along the way, however, I will tackle these head on and push through to the finish line...I will complete this challenge. I do not underestimate the longevity of this fundraiser but the whole point of this is to demonstrate when a something seems impossible or too big to tackle, if you hang in there you will find some way of working through it.
It is important to talk. There are always people who will listen and help you.
It is important to look out for people, offer support, a shoulder to cry on and to listen to those who may be struggling. They may seem fine on the face of it but that could easily be a mask.
Here is to a happy and healthy 2021.
Talk. Listen. Support.
James