A MAN from Taunton is taking on the epic challenge of running a half-marathon every day in February to raise money for mental health charity Mind.
Harvey Morris is running in memory of his friend Jack, who sadly passed away after a battle with his mental health.
Harvey, who works in recruitment in the south west, also wants to raise awareness of Mind’s valuable work and highlight the importance of talking.
Alongside his fundraising challenge, working, and looking after his 12-week-old daughter, he is taking the time to speak to local schools about his half-marathons and his reasons for running them.
His workload means he usually starts running at around five in the morning on weekdays, and he has given himself the extra target of completing every run in under two hours.
Harvey told the County Gazette: “I’m enjoying it. It’s reaching a lot of people.
“Quite a lot of people are running with me and tagging themselves and stuff.
“It’s tiring but there’s a lot of people involved, which is really cool.”
Harvey struggled with his mental health after Jack died, which began to improve after he contacted Mind.
“I struggled for a while with what had happened,” he said.
“After a long period, I had days where I felt a bit blue, and I decided to call Mind and ask if they could help me.
“They spoke to me for five or ten minutes, and they helped me think a little differently, which helped me begin to move forward with it.
“The reasons for the run are to remember a friend and to point out the significance of charities like Mind.”
He has set a fundraising target of £2,800 – but is already around 90 per cent of the way to achieving it.
His JustGiving page is full of messages of support and encouragement from Harvey’s friends, family members, and people from as far away as Australia.
Asked what he would like to say to people who have donated or left kind messages, Harvey said: “Thank you very much. Whatever they’ve donated, thank you to everyone.
“The most profound thing they could keep doing is sharing the reasons behind the run and why the charity and talking are so important.”
He added: “My baby girl just turned 12 weeks old. She’s just begun to sleep a little bit better at night.
“Fingers crossed that continues!”.
The impressive start to his challenge has received recognition from the charity, which says all donations help improve its ability to support people with mental health problems.
Ian O’Reilly, head of community and events fundraising at Mind, said: "We are really grateful to Harvey for choosing to support Mind through this tough challenge that he’s set himself.
"He’s started strongly, and we wish him all the best as he continues to rack up the miles and tick off those half marathons throughout the month.
"It remains a challenging time and many of us will be feeling the impact of the pandemic on our mental health and wellbeing, especially for those of us with existing mental health problems.
"One in four of us will experience a mental health problem in any given year, and it’s so important that no one has to face this alone.
"Every donation that Mind receives allows us to campaign to improve services and provide information and support.
"This includes through services such as the Mind Infoline, legal line and our online peer support community, Side by Side, so we can be there for as many people who need us as possible."
For more information about Harvey's fundraiser or to donate, visit his JustGiving page.
Read more: Fundraising to help Somerset people whose mental health has been impacted by Covid
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