Team behind Halifax based mental health services provider to cycle over 1,000 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats

Doug Dennison and Logan Bonham Smith – both co-founders of Unmasked Mental Health, and Andy Banks, e-commerce director at Veloskin will begin their journey to pedal across the length of Great Britain on 7 August. The trio will be cycling for 14 days, in honour of the estimated 38,346 people around the world who will sadly die due to suicide during the two weeks.

Doug explains: “It’s estimated that 2,739 people per day take their own lives, and 1 in 4 people experience some form of mental illness and Unmasked Mental Health is on a mission to reduce this number through offering effective mental health support.

“Our goal is to remove the stigma surrounding mental health, help others living with mental health issues and providing a safe, stable and regulated platform for people to get the support they need.”

The fundraising event has received sponsorship and support from several businesses, including Bam Nuttall, Primal Europe and Veloskin. The trio hopes to raise £10,000 for Unmasked Mental Health to help the organisation maintain and provide their free UK peer support services for men and women aged 16+. It will also help fund the organisation’s new counselling service.

Unmasked Mental Health was set up by three friends from Halifax – Doug Dennison, Logan Bonham Smith and Robin Cunningham, who have all battled and overcome mental-ill health first-hand.

The team runs a counselling service, mental health training for businesses, support hubs, walking groups, and an app that people can use anonymously to access peer-to-peer support. The Unmasked Mental Health app is used by people in 67 countries.

The team’s cycling schedule is:

Day 1: Lands End to Bodmin - 64 Miles

Day 2: Bodmin to Tiverton - 73.32 Miles

Day 3: Tiverton to Wells - 49.70 Miles

Day 4: Wells to Hereford Cathedral - 70.21 Miles

Day 5: Hereford Cathedral to Iron Bridge - 51.51 Miles

Day 6: Iron Bridge to Standish - 82.2 Miles

Day 7: Standish to Kirkby Longsdale - 51.32 Miles

Day 8: Kirkby Longsdale to Talkin – 57.10 Miles

Day 9: Talkin to Peebles - 74.56 Miles

Day 10: Peebles to Perth - 64 Miles

Day 11: Perth to Ballater - 67.72 Miles

Day 12: Ballater to Inverness - 74.56 Miles

Day 13: Inverness to Lairg - 49.2 Miles

Day 14: Lairg to John o’ Groats - 87.61 Miles

Donations can be made via the following link: https://localgiving.org/unmaskedcharitybikeride