There are many worthwhile causes to donate to, but there is one common theme that is important that relates to them all, and that is talking about your Mental Health.

Whether that is about an illness or a trauma, or anything, your mental health is the thing that guides you - without that, none of the rest matters, or at best it will catch up with you.

Sometimes, the hardest people to talk to are the ones you want to talk too, you dont want to burden them, they wont understand, they may not want to hear or you worry that they have enough going on in their own life. So, having an outlet in the form of a organisation, that allows any person of any age to discuss any aspect of your mental health, in a listening, non judgmental way, and most importantly from a point of having "been there" and a lived experience is a godsend.

Having mental health issues does not define you unless you hope they go away, sadly, the longer you leave something unattended and compressing it, hoping it goes away, the bigger the issue gets - its like a tumor, it grows, it becomes life threatening, it can end lives in a sad silence.

Like any burden, they are heavy, and it stands to reason that if you relieve some of that burden and get others to help you then it gets lighter.

These charities rely on people like you and without them we will all struggle to cope with this life.

Riding this bike, this far, again, will take me to places where I will not want to go, but have to, in order to understand myself better. Having come through a recovery programme myself, having many ups and downs, thinking I have "Won" only to realise that my battle will be for life, and having to learn about myself over again and deal with what I had run from, I truly appreciate what "talking" can achieve.

But this ride will also take me to places I do want to go to understand and prioritize what is important..

Its OK not to be OK - its NOT ok to not tell anyone on.