A boy and his old man Park 2 Park

I have wanted to do something for a mental health charity for a while now and LooseHeadz is the perfect fit and here is our story and why.

Quite a few years ago now, I lost one of my oldest friends to suicide. It was heart breaking for his family and so many other people that loved him. He was the life and soul of any party, always the one who would knee slide across the dance floor. He would just make you smile, you would give him the look of disapproval and shake your head but couldn’t help but laugh along. At the time it really hit me hard for many reasons, for months afterwards I was an emotional mess. I realised I had never really dealt with my emotions, as a kid, many years previously when I lost my Mum, Dad and brother in a house fire. So after losing my friend, I spent many months reliving the tragic accident of my family. I got very good at being fake around my wife and kids, pretending I was fine: fake smile, fake laugh and would spend most days smiling and pretending I was ok around everyone. When I would be alone in my van, I would just cry to myself then go back to being fake afterwards like it was a switch. As months went by, I slowly started talking to my wife about my emotions. As my kids got older and more involved in sports, I was getting more and more involved with the sports they participated in.

Talking to my wife and just finding the love for sport again helped me massively and I started to love life again and haven’t had to be fake for a few years now and hopefully never will.

My son is eight and has played Rugby since he was two. He loves the game so much, but the last twelve months my son has had a bit of a rough time at his old school to say the least. He has made me so proud, always rising above it but he would hide his emotions. Luckily, as we would be out passing the rugby ball to each other, he would open up and talk everything through with me which helped him massively including bringing him an inner calm and also our selves as parents to know how he was and is truly feeling. This also led us to move him schools and life is amazing for him now especially as he has quickly settled into his new school and made some amazing new friendships.

Doing this challenge for LooseHeadz makes so much sense for me and my son but also because of the friend I lost whose son is excelling at a rugby club in Cornwall. 

So myself and son, through the love of Rugby and just simply passing a rugby ball, would like to do a challenge. This will involve his two favourite Rugby clubs - Exeter Chiefs and his beloved Brixham. 

On September the 3rd, myself and my son will set off from Exeter Chiefs, Sandy Park and spend 5-6 hours a day walking, passing a rugby ball and talking. We hope to make the journey to arrive in time for kick off, 2:30pm on Saturday the 6th of September, at Brixham, Astley Park.

As we make the journey from Exeter, we will travel down to the coast at Dawlish, then along the coastal path to Torbay and along to Brixham passing the ball as we go. Each day setting off from where we finished the previous day.

If our story helps anyone that would be amazing, just so people start talking over a coffee or find an activity that helps them open up about how they are feeling.

Please feel free to donate to such a great cause in LooseHeadz and please share, thank you for taking the time to read.

In a world where you can be anything be kind.

Donations made through this platform are secure and will be remitted directly through to my charity of choice.

Thanks so much for your support!