What motivated you to do this walk?

Through my own lived experience of mental health issues during my teenage years, I saw first hand the issues both surrounding stigma but also barriers accessing mental health services. Due to difficulties within my family, I wanted to be able to access mental health services without my parents finding out but, despite legislation permitting this, in practice it was not possible. These issues led me, as an adult, to be passionate around young people’s mental health to help improves the lives of young people who may experience mental health issues. 

With 2015 having been the most difficult time in terms of my mental health, I decided to set myself a challenge to mark 10 years. In 2024, I walked 26.2 miles in the Brighton Marathon. For 2025, I decided to take it a step further and set a new challenge for myself. 

What mental health issues have you had? 

From around the age of 15, I began experiencing depression, where I felt numb to life and struggled with daily tasks of life. My performance in school dropped, I lost all sense of enjoyment in doing hobbies and it felt like I was existing rather than living. These led me to struggle to find the motivation to do things and, at times, life felt too hard to continue. 

Alongside my depression, I have always experienced Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). For those of us with ARFID, we have a fear of foods, leading us to struggle to try new foods. Our list of ‘safe foods’, which are foods we are comfortable eating, is very short. For me, I only eat approximately a dozen foods. For these foods, minor things such as the brand, determine if I am able to eat it. 

For those who know me, one of the first things that springs to mind is how I am constantly eating ham sandwiches. Ham sandwiches are one of the only foods I eat. In a typical week, the only thing I eat is ham sandwiches, where I average anywhere between 6 and 12 a day, depending on multiple factors. Whilst I do have other safe foods, in an average week, this is all I eat.  

For those of us with ARFID, it comes with many barriers. The difficulties of going to restaurants due to eating nothing on the menu and therefore only being able to buy a drink, the worry of eating out at the restaurants we do like where we need the food prepared in a certain way with the uncertainty of whether they will do it correctly and the difficulty where, even in huge supermarkets, there can be times we cannot find anything we can eat. 

Whilst this isn’t the case for everybody with ARFID, another big way it impacts me is the issue of me being unable to eat at set times. Rather than being able to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, I take nibbles throughout the day. Whilst working, I can take up to an hour to eat a sandwich and when one finishes, it’s not very long until I start eating another. If I was to restrict myself to only eating at set times, I struggle to concentrate and my mental health takes a hit. 

Why 345 miles?

Having grown up in London, in 2021 I decided it was time to leave London. Whilst job hunting for jobs across the country, I came across a job in Middlesbrough, North East England. After getting the job offer, I relocated to Middlesbrough where I lived for over three years. At the end of 2024 I came across a new job opportunity in Manchester and decided to apply for it, which is where I am currently based. With the distance from London to Middlesbrough to Manchester being 345 miles, I decided to walk this distance to show where I have come over the last 10 years. 

Where will you be walking? 

I will be walking set routes across all 3 cities. The first 6 days will see me walking around London, days 7-11 I will be walking around Manchester and days 12-17 I will be walking around Manchester. Each day has a set route with a topic of what blog I will be posting that day. During these walks, there will be the opportunity for others to join me along the way. 

What are you fundraising for? 

I am fundraising for Support For Us, a charity I am launching to provide training and resources around young people’s mental health. 

What motivated you to start a charity? 

Through my own lived experience of mental health issues as a teenager, I was unable to access mental health services without my parents knowing. Even once within mental health services, they only spoke to my parents despite me being in the room. As a result of my experiences, I decided to try and change this. I conducted a study of 1,438 under 25 year olds, where it transpired 87% felt under 18s should be able to access services without parents knowing but only 25% think that it’s possible. Despite the legislation being there for young people to access services confidentially, in my practice it’s either not possible or very difficult for many young people. This led to a campaign being launched to improve the accessibility and confidentiality of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). 

Outside of my full time job, where I was working in a fast food restaurant, I became a Youth Mental Health First Aid instructor, teaching courses across England. Knowing the need for these courses and the barrier the price causes where many can’t afford it, I would run these at a subsidised rate.

One day I decided to merge the two together, which is where Support For Us was born. 

Myself and 5 others are currently in the stages of trying to register Support For Us with the Charity Commission.