A team of volunteers began their epic journey across the North East early on Wednesday morning, dedicating the effort to the memory of Harvey McWilliams who tragically died in December last year.
The charity, ManHealth, is raising awareness in support of men's mental health and the team actively encourages people to join them on their five-day, 130-mile 'March for Men-tal Health'.
Beginning at Bedlington Football Club at around 8.30am, the group of 18 or so members set off to cover 20 miles on the first day as they pass between North East football clubs. From Bedlington to Cramlington, Cramlington to Blyth. The first day culminates in their arrival to North Shields in preparation for Day two, on Thursday, which comes into Newcastle city centre and then out towards South Shields.
Read more: Grieving dad to set out on 130-mile football ground-hopping march after 18-year-old's sudden death
Joey Collins, a volunteer with ManHealth spoke of the next few days, "We've got ex-players from certain clubs. I know, we've got Gary Bennett from Sunderland, who's going to be joining us when we get to the Stadium of Light. We've got Neil Madison, who used to play for Middlesbrough. So you know these people can help share the profile of what we do, their outreach obviously helps us to build up some more awareness of what we're doing. And that's all vital, you know."
"The message is to get as many people as we possibly can to come and join us and start a conversation about mental health," said Paul Bannister, founder of ManHealth.
You can keep up with their progress over the Easter Weekend through the tracker available on the ManHealth website - https://www.manhealth.org.uk/events/2022/march-for-men-tal-health/
