Latest news with #IfUCareShareFoundation
BBC News
09-08-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Postal worker to walk 400 miles for mental health charity
A postal worker is preparing to walk 400 miles (249km) around the country to raise money for a mental health "step-addict" Nikki Gaynor is set to walk from Darlington to Cornwall, stopping at Royal Mail offices along the way as part of her mammoth Gaynor began raising awareness for mental health 10 years ago following the death of a close friend and is using her walk to support the If U Care Share will also be handing out knitted toys, called Positive Potatoes, and "bags of happiness" to those she meets along her journey to inspire those in crisis to keep going. "In these bags, you have a teabag, because a brew makes everything better," she told BBC Radio Tees. "A heart, because you're always loved. A star, because that's what you are. A penny, so you're never truly broke. A paperclip to hold things together when everything's falling apart and an eraser to rub everything out." Her walking route will take her from Darlington to Ripon and then down to Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham, Bromsgrove, Cheltenham, Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Taunton, Exeter, and Okehampton, before her final stop at said day four to six of her journey will be particularly "brutal" as she is set to walk almost 40 miles each people are welcome to come out and meet her for a chat during the she warned those who do to bring some plasters. She also said her job as a postie gives her a good opportunity to help people through the simple act of talking to them, as sometimes she can be "the only person someone talks to" all wants others to follow suit and reach out to those who need help. "Just try and talk to somebody," she said. "Just reach out to anybody, even a complete stranger." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Man running a marathon a day in brother's memory
A man who lost his brother to suicide has said he was running a marathon a day for 128 days in his memory. Leodhais Macpherson, from Tynemouth, wants to cover the equivalent of the distance between North Shields and New York, where his older brother Connor wanted to live. The 3,332 mile (5,362 km) challenge started at the end of January and is set to finish on 2 June, the day Connor would have turned 28. Mr Macpherson said revisiting emotions around the loss of his brother, who died in 2018, had so far been the hardest part of the challenge. "That's probably been one of the hardest things so far over the past five weeks," he said. "Not so much actually doing marathons, but just opening up that can of warms all over again, having to go through those sorts of emotions. "It's definitely difficult going through something like that, but running for me has been a massive coping mechanism." Mr Macpherson, who has been running competitively since he was 12, added he had already smashed his fundraising target of £10,000, with money going towards the RNLI and the If U Care Share Foundation. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Paralympic swimmer aiming for triathlon record
