Salford Red Devils player, Ellis Snelgrove, joined a team of 48 people to take part in a 60-mile walk to raise money for CALM, a mental health charity that is dedicated to tackling male suicides in the UK.
The walk took 24 hours and started in Rhyl, North Wales, and finished at the AJ Bell Stadium, Manchester.
Danny Hobbs, one of the organisers for the walk said “We’ve lost three mates to mental health this year and it triggered that we need to do something about it.
“We set ourselves a massive challenge with the walk and equally we wanted to set ourselves a massive challenge with the amount of money we raise. At the moment we’ve raised nearly 13K which has excelled what we thought to begin with.”
The walk took three months to organise and had an age range of 18 to 53.
With male suicide rates being almost three times as much as female suicide rates in the UK in 2017, CALM charity focuses on male mental health and aims to lower the male suicide rate.
Ellis was the youngest of the group at 18 years old, he said: “Mental health is massive in sport and there’s a lot of players who suffer in silence with a few of our lads who have already been through it.
“In sport its hard. There’s a lot of training, a lot of sacrifice, you’re missing out on family time and getting that support goes a long way.”
Sam Brown, who supported the walkers on the day, lost his brother to mental health in recent years. He said: “what these lads put themselves through was emotional. All my family watched and I’m just so proud of them all, they’ve done us all proud”
The group have said that they are “overwhelmed” with the support and response they have had from the local community and are pushing to raise £50,000 for the charity.
Simon Gunning, CEO of the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), said: “CALM relies on the dedication of our supporters in raising the funds and awareness that allow us to continue supporting men who are down or in crisis.
“Daniel and the group epitomise everything that CALM is about in getting together and overcoming this challenge as a team. Their commitment and energy towards suicide prevention is truly incredible.”
The group are now planning further ways to fundraise money for the charity, including a charity party with Salford Red Devils at AJ Bell Stadium on 23 November.
To donate and find out more about the cause go to Danny’s JustGiving page here.
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