Over 40 people attend wellbeing walk to show support for mental health

On Wednesday 18 October, we hosted a wellbeing walk around Ashby Ville in Scunthorpe.

Together with CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably), the aim of the walk was to unite local communities together to show their support for the recognising of mental health as well as against suicide.

In total, over 40 people attended, including Andy’s Man Club and Humberside Fire and Rescue Service. Walking nearly six miles each, collectively there were 77.5 hours walked between everyone. In this time, CALM would have answered 4,650 calls through their helpline to people facing a problem.

The walk began at Morrisons car park, and continued around Ashby Ville and through the beck, stopping off at Café Natura for lunch.

After feeling refreshed, we began the walk back to Morrisons.

Sonya, an Ongo Recruitment client who attended the walk, said, “I managed to walk the whole route which is the most I have walked in many years.

“The time walking allowed me to think about the struggles I have had with my own mental health and suicide. I struggled with suicidal thoughts for many of my teenage years and wasn’t aware at the time about what support was available or where I could go to talk about my feelings.

“The suicide awareness walk was an opportunity to learn about the support available from CALM and Andy’s Man Club, and I was proud to have been a part of this event. I want to thank Ongo for letting me be a part of this day.”

We would love to say a big thank you to everyone who came along, got involved and showed their support. It was amazing to be able to organise an event like this, the first one we’ve done, and it definitely won’t be the last.

Emma Mcleary, Mental Health Counsellor at Ongo said, “I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who is involved and of course to each and every walker, donator, baker, first aider, stand manner and photo-taker.

It really was fantastic to have so many faces attend such an important event and to really take ‘ONGO communities, into the community’ to show what we do best.”

Neil Fowler, Station Manager from Scunthorpe Fire Station said, “Thank you to Ongo for inviting us along to this walk, it was great to be a part of, especially when supporting such a worthwhile cause.

“Public safety is our number one priority, so actively being there to show our support and our presence was really important.”

Thank you to Morrisons, who helped us set up in the morning and donated water and fruit boxes, Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, who came along to the event to show their support, and Café Natura, for offering attendees 15% off food and drinks during the walk.

Thanks also to Andy’s Man Club for joining us. We are pleased to share their news that this national suicide prevention charity will be opening a club in Scunthorpe at the end of October, bringing more support closer to home. Find out more here – https://andysmanclub.co.uk/full-club-lists/

We also raised £63.50 from generous donations towards CALM during the day.