Over 60 walkers will head from Oakwell to Pride Park in March to raise money for CALM...
Barnsley Football Club are delighted to support the West Stand Bogs Fanzine in their latest quest to raise much-needed funding for another terrific cause.Following on from two previous successful walks to Chesterfield in 2014 and Bradford in 2015 where over £20,000 was raised for various charities, this latest walk will take supporters to Derby, therefore it's much further on this occasion and will be split into two days of walking!
What began as a 'daft' idea in the summer of 2013 has four years later grown to become West Stand Bogs, a fanzine that focuses on Barnsley - the town, its people and its Football Club. Set up by lifelong Reds supporter Liam Dyson, the fanzine has helped to raise over £40,000 for numerous local charities and the work of the team at West Stand Bogs was recently recognised with a Pride Of Barnsley award for fundraising.
We asked Liam for the reasons behind choosing CALM as the recipient charity...
"Men can often be too proud," he explained. "They can be too proud to seek or ask for help. Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK. CALM looks to offer support and help for young men suffering in their time of crisis.
"We're also doing the walk in memory of Ashley Salkeld, a friend of ours who passed away in October of last year. 'Selly' was just 25-years-old and a real joker, a larger than life character to all those who knew him. Behind that though was a troubled and broken lad who became another part of that horrendous statistic I mentioned. There is support out there for people but Barnsley men aren't exactly known for their deep talking. And so we want to promote that. That talking is good, that there are people who will hear you, they'll listen and help support you. It's never too late to ask for help.
"If by walking a few miles we can again raise the profile of a certain cause and help just one person to speak up about their issues, we'll take that. I can talk to you all day about Jean-Yves M'Voto or Conor Hourihane, men in particular can talk about all sorts of nonsense. But we tend to deviate when it comes to our own inner feelings and issues. It's time to change that and I hope that by doing our walk we can make a difference. The money raised certainly will do. And with the Club backing us like this then it's just perfect really."
About The Charity
The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is an award-winning charity dedicated to preventing male suicide, the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK. In 2015, 75% of all UK suicides were male.
Offering support to men in the UK, of any age, who are down or in crisis via our helpline, web chats and website, we are challenging a culture that prevents men seeking help when they need it, through CALMzine and campaigns such as #ManDictionary and #BiggerIssues.
We are pushing for changes in policy and practice so that suicide is better prevented, via partnerships such as The Alliance of Suicide Prevention Charities (TASC) and the National Suicide Prevention Alliance (NSPA).
We support those bereaved by suicide, through the Suicide After Support Partnership (SASP), which aims to ensure that everyone bereaved or affected by suicide is offered and receives timely and appropriate support.
The Walk
We asked Liam about the journey that the walkers will undertake on March 3rd...
"The goal is to raise £10,000, we're up at around £2,500 so far with just under a month to go. I think we've 60 lads and lasses signed up so far. We'll be setting off from Oakwell on the Friday, and we're aiming to arrive at Pride Park before kick off the next day. It's about 55 miles in total so we'll be stopping overnight in Chesterfield, to add a bit of glamour to proceedings. Everyone is sorting out their own accommodation and travel back home after the match, and we're happy for some to skip the first half of the route if they want and join us on day two from Chesterfield into Derby.
"Unfortunately, the Reds have a tendency to lose on the day of our charity walks so feel free to blame us for that. But in all seriousness I implore folk to come along, join us and have a good laugh with some great people. We've got plenty of Reds supporters signed up of course, some are doing their third or fourth walk of this kind, they love it. But we've fans of other Clubs joining us too, and folk who don't even like football but support the cause. The more the merrier!
"I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Club for once again helping us to get the message out there. I know we take the Mickey a bit in the magazine but we all want what is best for Barnsley Football Club and this support is massively appreciated by all of us. Barnsley is a proper community club and this is further emphasised by their support of our latest charity walk."
Everyone at Barnsley Football Club would like to wish all the participants the very best of luck in their commendable efforts next month. If anyone would like to take part in the walk, please contact Liam at weststandbogs@gmail.com
If you'd like to donate to the cause please visit THIS LINK.
