Why not take the 100 Streets Challenge to help your body and your wellbeing
One in four people in the UK will be affected by a mental health problem this year. My name is Dane Thomson, I am 28 and I am the one in four people who has battled with mental health problems.
I have faced crushing spells of depression and anxiety since my early 20s. I am a proud and active ambassador for Support in Mind Scotland and I use the role to positively focus my efforts on helping others who are struggling with their mental health.
This year has seen me face particularly troublesome encounters with the illness. Resulting in me having to call time on my role at an awardwinning tender specialist company and take a short career break to get well again. During my darkest times this year, I remember being fed up feeling unwell all the time. I was sick of bottling up my emotions. I was constantly feeling like life was passing me by. I knew the time had come for me to do something to tackle my mental health. But what?
One day I was scrolling through Facebook and read about Support in Mind Scotland’s ‘100 Streets Challenge’. This was a challenge created and successfully piloted in 2016 by Scotland and British Lions rugby great Scott Hastings and his wife, Jenny.
The flexibility of the challenge meant I could do whatever I wanted within it. I could walk, run, jog, go to the other side of Scotland if I wanted! I needed a reason to get up and walk again . This challenge gave me it. I then got excited and started to plan …
I re-imagined and recreated the 100 Streets Challenge in a novel way for its first outing in 2017. My version of the challenge called #Imstilldane saw me walk 100-plus streets over a planned route between Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife continuously from 10-17 July.
The aim was to engage in 100 open conversations about mental health as well as interactively gathering 100 signatures on my T-shirt from the people I met. This was to signify that they too supported open and frank conversations about mental health and how poor mental health can affect anyone.
#Imstilldane captured hearts, social media pages and donations from friends, loved ones and supporters, raising more than £1,000 for the charity in week.
The true success of the challenge was the many heart-warming con- versations I engaged in as well as the endless kind messages of encouragement I received. My conversations ranged from personal tips on how they too deal with mental illness, to asking my advice on how they should talk to their daughter about depression to simply saying “Well done, Dane on what you’re doing”.
One conversation I had which I’ll never forget is one I had with Scotland’s 1990 Grand Slam-winning captain David Sole OBE. I have thanked him for sending me a handwritten well-wishes card in which he called me “courageous” for how I’ve handled of my mental health issues. He gave me accompanying advice “stick in” which I fully intend todo.
Taking part in the challenge has done wonders for my wellbeing and recovery. Mentally it has shown me the true benefit and power of walking on my mood. Physically it has kick-started my metabolism again and has started me on my journey again to getting back in shape. I am so grateful to Support in Mind for giving me the platform to walk, talk and get everyone in my closer and wider circle talking about mental health. Completing the challenge has helped rebuild my confidence and I now feel I am strong enough to return to employment from a career break and get back to what I enjoy most – helping people.
The aim of the 100 Streets campaign is simple: to raise mental health awareness, raise crucial funds for Support in Mind Scotland’s mental health services and to
It’s meant to be fun but this allows people to engage in conversations about the very real issue of mental
health, finds Dane Thomson