Charity request from you lovely folk...

[El Spavo]

Hi All,

I wondered if I could possibly ask all and sundry on here to possibly please sponsor me and donate to worthy causes on a charity walk I am attempting in May jointly for The Samaritans and, moreso for the charity I'm personally supporting, Andy's Man Club?

Between May 26th & 29th myself, and some likeminded Leeds United fans are walking roughly 92 miles from Shotton in North Wales to Elland Road to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the passing of Leeds United & Welsh footballing legend, Gary Speed, and the 30th anniversary of him winning the last, old first division title with Leeds United. The goal is to raise £10k, but we are absolutely miles away from that at present!

As the info on the link below says, Gary was talented, handsome and loved by thousands. If mental heath can be an issue for someone as brilliant as that then it's an issue for all of us. In the modern age, the UK male suicide rate is roughly 4 times highly than female, with most of them being middle aged men. On average a man takes his life every 2 hours in the UK. The impact is not just men losing their lives, but the follow on that it causes to their families, and also the emergency services and others who deal with the outcome of the tragedy day after day, something I've personally witnessed first hand many times from working in the Fire Service.

Below is a bit about the charity I'm championing:



To put some of this in perspective as to why it matters to me personally, last year I had some ongoing mental health issues which culminated in me having a mental breakdown at the fire station I was working at. I felt it was difficult to find somewhere where people could realistically empathise with what I was feeling, and AMC has helped me. In return, I enjoy listening to others get stuff off their chest, so a very worthwhile charity who not a lot of people know about, but thankfully it's growing.

So thanks for even reading all this, and any help would be greatly appreciated by both me, them, and the people you help save.

https://gofund.me/5358266e

https://andysmanclub.co.uk/

https://www.samaritans.org/

p.s. thanks to Matt for allowing me to post this, and if anyone does donate, please message on this link as I may well not know your real name and I'd love to be able to thank you personally.

 

[donna]

All done, good luck with it all, worthy cause. 

 

[MartynB]

I’ve popped a few bob in . I’m laid up with covid , no shooting , no fishing so you’ve got a bit of my unspent pocket money ..

Seriously though I lived around the Halifax are until recently so I know about the good work Andy’s Mans Club has done . 

 

[El Spavo]

Ah, thanks so much guys, really appreciate it.

 

[El Spavo]

Seriously though I lived around the Halifax are until recently so I know about the good work Andy’s Mans Club has done . 

I'm in the Reading area nowadays, and there's a black hole where there's no physical club to attend anywhere within 30+ miles, so I'm hoping to become a facilitator to start one nearby.

 

[ehb102]

Go on then. My supervisor who taught me to resolve trauma was a firefighter. You've hit me in the soft spot. Good work, Matt.

 

[El Spavo]

Go on then. My supervisor who taught me to resolve trauma was a firefighter. You've hit me in the soft spot. Good work, Matt.

Many thanks Elizabeth, really appreciate you paying it forward.

 

[Goldfinch]

All done. Good luck!

 

[El Spavo]

Thank you so much. If you listened to some of the problems the guys online have that I've been speaking with, it really means everything to support andys man club and keep it running. 

 

[El Spavo]

C'monnnnnnnn...

Fiver ain't gonna kill you compared to the cost of a second hand Beretta.

And you get to feel good about yourself. 

 

[MartynB]

You deserve more than a fiver for having the bottle to walk through Holbeck , never mind the good cause . 

 

[El Spavo]

.... there's a problem with part of the route... so we're having to divert literally directly past old trafford.

100 leeds fans, possibly quite a few in kit... that will be popular!

 

[Jayzeable]

All done. Good luck.  

 

[El Spavo]

Thank you so much matey, really appreciate it. It's a really good cause, although it's really not well known so thanks for supporting. So many people I've spoken to on there now who's worlds have been transformed, and even literally saved from taking their own lives.

 

[westley]

Done.  Sorry for delay. W.

 

[El Spavo]

No problem, all greatly welcomed. 

Thanks again to the generous folk on here.

 

[Andrew Smith]

I have a level 2 qualification in self harm an suicide prevention. A friend of mine has started a branch of AMC near him. Good luck in your walk. I will donate once paid and will then PM you. 

 

[El Spavo]

Many thanks Andrew, much appreciated, and thank you to your friend... There are more clubs popping up round the country so hopefully we can have a place for fellas to talk openly about dark things in life without the stigma of not being a man.

In the fire service, I only really get to see the destruction suicide causes to families as we're called to help out after the event. I've seen how it can destroy a lot of people in one swift go.