I am running Hackey Half for the wonderful Charity Mind in honour of my greatly missed brother in law Jim Evans.

10 years on and there continues to be a huge gap in family life, lots of moments where you are missed. I look back at words shared by my wife when we had not long lost him and it is just as raw but seems only right they are resurfaced 10 years on to continue his memory. Its what he deserves.

On April 28th 2014 we lost Jim, A gentle and happy soul who was kind beyond belief.

As a family we cannot help but question the journey he took on that evening and how we could have stopped him, a life now controlled by what ifs. The only comfort if there is any is Jim did what he felt was right, what made sense to him, to end the life which we exist in now to go on to somewhere free of the pain. A decision like this does not come easy and it was something that he never shared until it was too late.

He was the bravest person I know, he fought a battle all on his own and for that he is stronger than any of us. Ten years have passed now and time has taken a new dimension, the things which were important take an almighty shift and the purpose in why you do things is more thought out. I feel quite privileged to be able to have a better perspective on the importance of life and the importance of all the amazing work happening ten years on from when we lost Jim. Lots of conversations that were just not happening back then, we have really moved forward to help more people living with challenging thoughts in their everyday lives.

On that Sunday in April Jim took a long drive to Dover. Why this place we will never fully know. His story is one which is private and personal to him and the family and we hold the details close to our hearts. One thing that we are sure on is that Jim took that journey to his final resting place, alone and with his own thoughts. During this time we can only wish that someone was there to stop him, question him and ask him if he was OK. It may have made no difference, or it may have meant he would still be with us today.

Mind give advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness, and promote understanding, we are privileged to have access to their services. For the last 40 years Mind have provided advice and support to anyone experiencing poor mental health in the community. In 2022-23 Local Minds supported almost 470,00 people. No one should have to fight alone, but with your help Mind can be there for everyone who needs us.

In honour of Jim and for all those people out there that deserve all the support they can get; we would like to raise money to help fund this amazing cause.