Suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK, and CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) are raising awareness for mental health disorders affecting men in the UK. This Saturday, a group of Fulham fans will be walking 40 miles from Craven Cottage to the Madejski Stadium to raise funds and awareness. This is their story.
‘42% of men aged 18 to 45 have considered suicide’ ~ Bigger Issues
Mental illnesses affect men not just across the UK, but across the world. Almost everyone will know of someone who has been affected by a mental illness and having somewhere to go and someone to turn to can make a monumental difference.
Now a group of Fulham fans have joined up to walk the 40 miles from Craven Cottage to the Madejski Stadium for The Whites’ season opener against Reading in order to raise money and awareness for CALM – a charity devoted to preventing male suicides.
I spoke to Lee Adams (@matchwornshirt1), a participant of the walk and a devoted Fulham fan, about his involvement with CALM and how the walk came about:
“I have been fund raising for CALM for about 18 months to 2 years. I’ve already done this walk and cycled to Preston, Wigan, Peterborough and Brighton to help out CALM, so an easy walk to Reading was always on the cards.
The walk’s hashtag #Fulham2ReadingWalk has blown up on Twitter, with the fundraiser receiving widespread attention from across the footballing community and beyond. When I asked Lee what the support meant to him, he replied “(I’m) blown away. I can’t thank the lads, fans and club enough. I know for a fact we have helped men out.”
I tried to take my own life and am now fighting for something that was never shown to me. I never want anyone to go down the road I went down”
For these Fulham fans and many more, Saturday 12th is about raising money for an incredible cause and not what happens on the pitch: “the score means nothing, the fact we could change a man’s life (regardless of his team) is all that matters, so I’m going #Fulham2Readingwalk to be the true winner”
CALM is an incredible charity, but without the help of incredible people like Lee, or the members of the public who have donated over £5000 to the fundraiser’s JustGiving page, they can’t continue their outstanding work, so we urge you to donate generously to what is an excellent cause.
Good luck from everyone at The72 – you have the entire footballing community behind you!
