My beautiful Mum is once again donning her running shoes and finally ticking the London Marathon off of her bucket list! As we all know, she smashes everything she sets her mind to, and I have no doubt this will be no different.

Ash heartbreakingly lost his life in February due to his own struggles with mental health and his loss has been devastating. To honour his memory, we are fundraising for a lasting tribute in his name.

Mum has kindly offered to run the marathon in memory of Ash, raising funds for a special memorial bench. Not only will this serve as a dedicated place to sit and reflect, with a QR code with photographs and a message personalised to Ash, but it will also raise awareness and provide vital support for those who may be struggling in their own moments of crisis. Ash’s bench will be able to be installed in a place of his family’s choosing (providing planning permission for the area is approved), somewhere that is meaningful to them all.

Legend-on-the-bench is a non profit charity that combats mental heath issues and suicide prevention, with the aim of reducing the number of such tragedies recorded each year.

 To do this they aspire to place informative benches in every local park in the UK. These benches will have contact telephone numbers and QR codes that will take anyone requiring support directly to this website’s help page. The benches have built-in integral lighting so they are a beam of light for those in crisis at night.

 There are 24 hour support services with real people at the other end, ready to listen and offer the support so clearly needed to someone struggling with the impact of depression, bereavement, loneliness, anxiety and the many more reasons for the feelings of despair. 

Any donation however small would be greatly received, if you are not in a position to donate then a simple share would be hugely appreciated. All donations will go directly to the charity to fund the development, delivery and installation of Ash’s bench.

Thank you for taking the time to read.

Someone is always listening.

The world is NEVER a better place without you.