Choice Supports Hike4Hope
The Hike4HopeNI walk from Londonderry/Derry to Belfast took place over five days from the 17th-21st December 2015. Each day the walkers covered between 11-20 miles. Hike4HopeNI have raised £4,343 and the donations are still coming in! Thank you for all your kind donations, the Just Giving pages will be open until the end of January, so if you haven’t already done so there is still time to donate.
http://www.hike4hopeni.com/#!donate/c1sxh
Congratulations to Austin Mulvenna, Ian Stewart, Courtney Scates, Oonagh Todd and Jim Chapman for taking part on behalf of Choice. They all showed fantastic commitment and enthusiasm to help a great cause. The money raised will benefit four charities; Simon Community, Shelter NI, Cycle against Suicide and Samaritans.
Inspired by the British Psychological Society’s “Walk the talk” campaign and Cycle Against Suicide; Hike4Hope was conceived by Siobhan O’Neill, Professor of Mental Health Sciences, and Paddy Gray, Professor of Housing. They have both been concerned about the links between housing and mental health and this initiative comes as they embark on a new programme of research with Bronagh Delargy.
Austin was instrumental in encouraging his colleagues to take part in this inititiative and after the walk he commented, “The people were fantastic and it was a great initiative, I’m so pleased with the very positive contribution from Choice walkers! Paddy & Siobhan are very grateful for our input and support and the funds keep rolling in on the donation pages.”
Following the success of the event Siobhan noted, “Things can go wrong, very, very badly wrong and, as I’ve discovered, there’s little point in thinking that you can have a plan, if you do you’re doomed. Life delivers the most amazing surprises but you need to actually be alive to experience them. Please have that hope and if you don’t have it, look for the hope; talk to someone, keep seeking help and looking at options. It’s ok not to feel ok and it’s definitely ok to ask for help.”
