30km for Leeds Mind: An Unexpected Journey!

Friday 19 July 2019

On Saturday 13 July 20 employees, nine family members, and six dogs completed a 30km sponsored walk in aid of Blacks’ Charity of the Year, Leeds Mind.

Walkers began to arrive at Bingley Station at around 9am.

By 9:30am we were all present and correct, had made a fuss over the dogs, dished out all of the snacks and balloons, and taken a pre-walk group photo.

We were ready to go!

Bingley to Leeds

Spirits were high as we headed towards the Leeds Liverpool Canal. As we made our way along the towpath, everyone we met was so friendly; chatting, waving and dashing off their boats to put change in our collection buckets. Luckily no one fell in…

The weather on the day was hot and sticky so, although we were very thankful it wasn’t raining, we were very grateful for any shade or breeze along the way.

After 17km of walking with the odd rest here and there, we stopped for a much needed lunch break (and pint of any liquid we could get hold of!) in Rodley.

After 45 minutes we were off again, refuelled and ready to complete the last 13km.

We managed the first few kilometres without so much as breaking a sweat. However, between mending broken trainers and carrying panting pooches, we found ourselves looking out for the next milestone more and more often.

Leeds, Leeds, Leeds!

We finally made it off the canal towpath, and welcomed a well-deserved drink at Craft Asylum.

After a short rest we gathered what strength we had left to complete the last (victory) lap of Leeds City Centre, where we finished with a team photo in Park Square at 6:30pm; nine hours after we began our epic journey!

Thank You

Often when we fundraise, we feel proud of what we’ve achieved, but we don’t actually get to see the impact it has.

As a result, a highlight of our day occurred towards the end of our walk. We had 6km to go and it’s fair to say we were struggling a little.

On the canal, a young man in a canoe began to sail past us going in the opposite direction. As he came parallel with us, he slowed down to offer us some words of encouragement.

He told us that he had personally suffered in the past from mental illness and it was Leeds Mind who had helped him overcome it. He thanked us for what we were doing, saying that the efforts we were making were invaluable and would make a real difference.

It was really special for us to speak to someone first hand and hear that we really are helping people, and his kind words really touched us and spurred us on to the end!

We would also like to thank Harrogate Spring Water for donating enough bottles of water to keep us all hydrated, Tesco Express for donating plenty of tasty snacks to keep us going, and Whitehall Dog Rescue for allowing us to take four adorable rescue dogs along for the day.

Making a Difference

At Blacks we believe that it’s really important to open up conversations around mental health to help end the stigma surrounding it, and we know that the money raised will help those in need of Leeds Mind’s support services.