Last weekend a small team from local mental health charity Kick Start FC completed a 65 mile walk across London raising over £2300.
Created with the purpose of ‘Tackling The Mind’, Kick Start FC are using the power of football to support men and women who experience episodes of poor mental health and lack social inclusion.
Throughout the walk the team used football grounds in the Premier League and EFL as their checkpoints. Starting at AFC Wimbledon early Friday morning the group walked across South London on day one before crossing the river Thames for day two.
The group eventually finished the walk at Wembley Stadium late Saturday evening. The team were hoping to raise a minimum of £1000 to help open up a Kick Start FC Social Hub. However the donations have poured in and the group have more than doubled their original target.
Founder Michael Cunningham told us “We underestimated how tough the walk would be but everyone pulled together despite fatigue, blisters and injuries and we made it to Wembley. To raise more than double of our target is absolutely incredible and it means that we can put a long term plan in place to help offer people the knowledge and the tools to help manage their mental health.”
The Kick Start FC Social Hub is the latest project for the charity which will aim to be a place where people in the local community can come and have a beverage, engage in wellbeing activities, learn and talk about mental health and it will operate as a safe space for a few hours. To learn more about Kick Start FC and their fundraisers please visit their social media pages or www.kickstartfc.org. The walk may be over but there is still time to donate, please visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ksfclondonwalk
