Posted: 6th May 2021

Bruce's Coast to Coast challenge

Wayne Wetherhill spoke with us about his upcoming challenge with friends and family in memory of his brother Bruce.

"On the 14th December 2020, the world lost an incredible human being.

My ‘big’ little brother, my mum and dad’s son, Josie’s husband, Matilda and Ezra’s daddy and a dear friend of almost everyone in Tadcaster. Bruce Wetherhill was an extremely popular character for the whole of his 31 years, for which he blessed us with his presence, and he leaves a big hole for us to negotiate our way around.

Like far too many others, Bruce suffered with mental health problems that tortured him. He suffered in silence, afraid to reach out and none of us any the wiser. This alone is truly heartbreaking to think about.

Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 and isn’t going to slow down. We want to help change this and make a big dent in this truly startling, saddening and scary statistic that took my brother.

To do this a group of us plan on raising as much awareness as possible, raising money in the process for York Mind Charity by doing a challenge that will stretch us to the limit both physically and mentally.

On 27th May, a group of Bruce’s family & friends will be embarking on the famous Coast to Coast trail. We’ll start walking from St Bees, Cumbria and finish at Robin Hood’s Bay some 10 days later - 5th June.

We’ll be walking an average of 20 miles a day for 10 consecutive days. Taking us through the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales & North Yorkshire Moors.

With limited training & experience, we’ll be driven on by the support & awareness that we’ll be raising.

Reaching out and speaking of your mental health challenges is not a weakness, it shows huge strength and character. Reaching out for help is the first step to recovery and no one should have to go through this process alone. We hope that the challenge we have set generates enough interest and publicity that it helps stop other families and friends having to go through similar tragic circumstances. Even if only to give young men a little bit more security to reach out then we have started to succeed in what we set out to achieve.

If you are able to donate and get behind the group of people, please, please do so, it would be greatly appreciated. It’s for an amazing cause that really needs our help"