Walking to show someone cares

From the Bognor beach where he tried to kill himself, Paul Shepherd is to walk an emotional 100 kilometres to London to celebrate the 40th birthday he so nearly didn’t live to see.

In London, Paul will be met at the London Eye by representatives from the male suicide prevention charity CALM, the Campaign Against Living Miserably.

CALM got Paul back on his feet – literally. Paul now acts as CALM’S running mentor, spreading the word that running can so often be a vital tool in the fight for mental health.

Under the hashtag #someonecares, Paul is setting out to show that there is always someone who cares – despite the shocking statistic that in the UK every day 12 men under the age of 45 take their own lives.

“I am hoping to raise awareness of that feeling of being on your own and that you don’t have to be,” Paul said.

“In the two and a half years since I tried to kill myself, I have realised that there are just so many people who care – and that we should shout about the fact.

“And the fact that there is always somebody who cares makes all the difference.

“We are not isolated.

“We really can turn around and tell someone we are feeling suicidal without it being a taboo word.

“It is about feeling OK to talk about that darkness.”

In January 2017, Paul hit rock bottom.

He got the train from work in Chichester back to Bognor where he still lives.

It was late at night. He wandered down to the loneliest stretch of beach he could find… and walked into the sea.

But then something remarkable happened.

He said: “Maybe universe spoke to me.”

A few minutes later, in the dark, dripping and frozen, back on the beach, he phoned CALM who talked through everything with him there and then… and helped him put his life back together again.

Paul now wants to say thanks in the biggest most public way and raise as much money as possible.

On Thursday, July 25, he will set out from the beach in Bognor to walk 100k (65 miles) to the London Eye.

He will arrive on his 40th birthday – a birthday he so very nearly didn’t live to see.

To contribute to Paul’s fundraising for the walk you can go to https://www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ someonecares1 the