A teacher from Salford has raised £280 for mental health charity MIND after completing a charity walk.
Kerry Lloyd, a head of year at Irlam and Cadishead Academy, spent World Mental Health Day pacing 12 kilometres around Warrington to raise money and awareness of mental health conditions.
Miss Lloyd had raised £280 last month and says the money that go to mental health charity MIND, who have a base in Salford at The Angel Healthy Living Centre.
“I only thought I was going to get £100, or that was my target, but putting it out on social media obviously helps with fundraising.
“It said on the JustGiving page what the five pounds could do, 10 pounds and 50 pounds – I think that’s fantastic to look [at] essentially what the money that people have donated to me doing the walk could help with now.
“It took me about two hours, but I stopped off to see my family on the way. Obviously with restrictions I can’t go into anybody’s house, so every Saturday I go visit. So, I went to my parents via my grandparents and then to two of my best friends.
“I do love my health and fitness, but I needed a rest after it,” she joked.
Miss Lloyd had a very busy morning walking 12km to raise money for MIND. Positive mental health is close to everyone’s hearts at ICA and we worked hard to gain Mentally Healthy Schools status. Well done Miss Lloyd this is an amazing achievement 💙#mentalhealthawareness2020 pic.twitter.com/kKobw8awpw
— Irlam & Cadishead Academy (@_ICAcademy1) October 17, 2020
The head of year, who also teaches drama, noticed during and after lockdown that there was a rise in the need for mental health support.
“As part of the pastoral care we offer, mental health comes into it a lot. It’s something that I consider to be very, very important outside of schools with my friends and my family.”
After each kilometre, Miss Lloyd made that clear by posting an inspirational quote regarding mental health on her personal Instagram, designed to highlight how important it is for people of all ages to speak up and it will benefit them hugely.
She added: “I think them just knowing it’s not burdening someone, [telling someone else] but they need to. A problem shared is a problem halved as the saying goes. I just wish some more students would speak up.
“I wanted to spread that message that it’s okay not to be okay, to talk to somebody and do get help as best as you can – it’s there for you.
“If they can’t physically speak up or verbally, what we’ve put into place on the ICA website is a link to an email, so they can email us or write it down and hand it in to a teacher or head of year to help them.”
Miss Lloyd’s walk for MIND can be further supported through her JustGiving page.
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