Step forward for 3rd Wellmeadow Walkathon
We got the bug for it when the Royal National Mòd came to Perth last year, in October
Entrants for the third annual 24hour Wellmeadow Walkathon in Blairgowrie – hosted by Blairgowrie and Rattray Development Trust (BRDT) to raise money for Jordan’s Challenge – have been urged to sign up now.
The popular fundraising event will take place on the weekend of Saturday, August 5, and Sunday, August 6, from 4pm to 4pm, and online bookings for those keen to support the event are now open.
Previous years have seen nearly 200 people from almost 50 groups, organisations and businesses take it in turns to walk around the town centre focal point for a one-hour slot, raising funds and awareness of the stigma that surrounds mental health and wellbeing.
This year, up to four entries will be available during each of the 24 one-hour slots, allowing some 96 groups and organisations, or individuals and friends and families to take part.
Jordan’s Challenge was set up in 2021 by east Perthshire mum Susan Hart, who walked or cycled five kilometres every day for six months in memory of her son Jordan, who died by suicide just days before his 17th birthday in 2020.
Since then – thanks to the support of the local community in Blairgowrie and Rattray and beyond – the family has raised nearly £20,000 for a series of 57 benches in and around the town, the last six of which will be put in place this year, and for a mental health and wellbeing outreach hub in the town.
The ‘happy to chat – happy to listen’ benches provide a space where people can come together and talk, helping to reduce social isolation and encouraging people to get out and about, and what started out as plans for just one bench developed into three bench trails located in Blairgowrie, Rattray and around the Cateran Trail.
The mental health and wellbeing outreach hub, currently located in a specially designated room in the BARI building in Blairgowrie High Street, offers a free space to any mental health and wellbeing related services.