MAN v FAT Maidenhead member Ben George shall be hitting the streets quickly as a part of the Baton of Hope UK Tour 25.
Ben, who has been part of the Maidenhead membership since 2023 has been chosen to be a Baton Bearer for the Baton of Hope UK Tour 25, which is about to be the most important suicide prevention initiative that the UK has ever seen.
The Baton of Hope UK are a part of a rising motion aspiring to a zero-suicide society and can merely not tolerate greater than 6,000 suicide deaths per yr within the UK (as at present) when most suicides are preventable.
They’ve a imaginative and prescient of a society the place suicide and suicide prevention are brazenly and broadly mentioned, encourage hope by way of motion, the place individuals are suitably supported, and the place everybody performs their half in realising this imaginative and prescient.
In 2025, The Baton of Hope shall be touring to twenty places throughout the UK, being handed from individual to individual, all affected by suicide in a technique or one other.
Ben instructed us: “I shall be a type of folks carrying the Baton, and I shall be doing so in Basingstoke on the twenty fifth of September. To ensure that the charity to proceed its very important work in supporting suicide prevention, they should increase cash and as a Baton Bearer, I’m elevating funds to assist their mission.
“I got here throughout the Baton of Hope in a information article which mentioned they had been recruiting for volunteers to develop into baton bearers for the 2025 tour over varied elements of the nation. I learn their web page and what they had been about and due to my very own experiences I immediately needed to be concerned.
“I imagine that each member of our group ought to have entry to the suitable assist on the proper time, suicide is the most important killer of males underneath 50 and ladies underneath 35. Along with your assist and assist, we will break the stigma round suicide and save extra lives.”
As Ben mentions, his curiosity within the Baton of Hope Tour comes from a really private perspective and he’s eager to get out and do his bit in Basingstoke.
He added: “My connection to the charity is extremely private. The charity is aiming to attain a suicide free society and to encourage folks to speak and rid free folks from the stigma of speaking about suicide.
“All through my grownup life I’ve struggled my psychological well being to various levels. These struggles have sadly led me to try to finish my very own life on two events. Throughout these instances I grew to become more and more withdrawn from the family members in my life, and crucially I ended speaking about my ideas and the way I used to be feeling. Which is why it’s so essential we encourage folks to speak about suicide.
“The ache that I felt at the moment and the ache I dropped at these round me isn’t one thing I ever want for anyone to should undergo. For this reason I’m so proud to be part of the Baton of Hope Tour 2025.”
Ben will tackle his leg of the tour with the total backing of his MAN v FAT Maidenhead membership mates, who’ve been very supportive throughout his two yr stint with the membership.
And he’s massively appreciative of the blokes he shares his weekly periods with.
He mentioned: “Being part of MAN v FAT has been an enormous assist for my psychological well being. I’ve all the time struggled with self-worth, self perception and self doubt and never as soon as at MAN v FAT have I felt judged, ridiculed or criticised.
“I’ve had nothing however assist from day one, beginning with the Ciaran the coach at first weigh in on the day of becoming a member of proper right down to the gamers, everyone has been nice and I can’t thank them sufficient.
“If ever there’s a unhealthy week on the scales or the pitch there’s all the time an encouraging phrase from a number of folks about the way it doesn’t matter and they’re all the time fast to level out the great you probably did, they by no means deal with the unhealthy.
“Extra importantly at these instances when the psychological well being struggles are there that’s when it actually counts. The messages of assist are nonetheless there, even the occasional personal message to supply a chat away from the group if it’s wanted to supply some additional assist. It’s truthfully improbable and becoming a member of MAN v FAT is likely one of the finest issues I’ve ever accomplished.”
You possibly can donate to Ben’s fundraising right here – we want him properly together with his efforts!
