About

Thank you for visiting our Givey page. My (Ian’s) story is detailed below. I will be attempting to walk the Yorkshire 3 Peaks (24 mile three peak hike in one day) on 8th July. When you make your donation through Givey, the Charity receives 100% of the donation. Your details are safe with Givey and donating is completely secure. Whatsmore, they never share your email address with any third parties except the Charity you donate to. It’s really odd when I sit here thinking of what to write as “my story”. We all hear of so many tragic stories that mine hardly seems worthy of sharing. However, this cause (mental health for young people) has clearly struck a chord with me so I guess it’s worth just diving in. Some of you will know that I’ve suffered with mental health issues myself in the past. In around 2004 it all came to a head and I found myself off work for a round 6 months, simply not able to cope with day to day living, let alone the stresses and strains of the workplace. I won’t go into detail as this isn’t about me. However, I didn’t realise until that point just how low I could get. I found the darkest and scariest places in my own mind that I never knew existed. However, with help and support of my family and friends, along with a little medical intervention (not medication - I refused that) I was able to find my way out. I truly don’t think anyone really fully gets over mental health issues - it stays with us forever. But what we do develop (if we are lucky) are a series of strategies that allow us to identify any reoccurrence and to deal with that effectively. I now know how to see the signs and know I will never dip to those terrifying lows ever again. As an adult, with help, I was able to rationalise what was happening to me - talk about it with those that were there to support me and develop those coping strategies. But imagine trying to deal with this as a young person. They may not have supportive networks around them. Indeed those networks that should be there to support them may well be part of their perceived problem - how would you have felt under such circumstances? Scared, lonely and no one to turn to. Having worked young people for many years as a (former) youth worker in Sherburn and Tadcaster I’ve seen first hand the many complicated issues that our young people can face. This is why I think this cause has resonated with me and why I want to help. The main thrust is about using outside space and activity to help overcome mental health issues. I know that walking became a major part of my recovery. Hence this challenge being a perfect one for me. Having said that, I don’t think the timing is perfect - we see so many people asking for money and donations, with charities all over the country struggling with finances just now. And we all have our own struggles of course, what with the awful raise is the cost of living etc. But I can’t let me put that off. I’ve therefore set a modest “target” and would ask that you donate whatever you can afford - that might be £10 for someone or just £1 for someone else. But if you could make it a fiver then that would be awesome. I’ve started my training already and plan to keep you all posted of my progress via Facebook live sessions - I guess my final plea is that whether or not you are able to donate, please feel free to share my story and challenge as much as you can - let’s at least raise awareness of the mental health plight of some of our young people in the hope that maybe just one person will reach out and provide some much needed support. Thanks for reading my story - well done for getting to the end! I’ll keep you posted. Big hugs. Ian. Oh, and keep a lookout for Sir Talkalot - he will make a very crucial contribution to my challenge!