Jim Giles, Maintenance Operative at Cygnet Sedgley House, and Jason Mole, Domestic Supervisor at Cygnet Heathers, decided to use their shared love of cycling to raise money and spread awareness for men’s mental health with a 137-mile charity cycle from Birmingham to London. They became good friends when they both worked at Cygnet Sedgley House, a rehabilitation service for men with complex needs, and have spent their weekends cycling along the Birmingham canals ever since.
They will be embarking on their challenge on Friday 22nd July. Starting at Cygnet Sedgley House and passing by Cygnet Heathers they aim to complete their journey along the Grand Union Canal in two days.
Jim said, “We started cycling together as a way for me to regain my fitness after I broke my leg and were lucky to receive bikes from Cygnet Health Care as part of our ‘Cycle to Work’ scheme. We’re only amateurs so our cycle to London will be a challenge for us but it will be fantastic to do what we love and raise some money at the same time.”
He added, “Both Cygnet Heathers and Cygnet Sedgley House are male units so men’s mental health is a topic we feel strongly about. We are yet to decide on a specific charity but we have been overwhelmed by the amount of support from our colleagues at Cygnet. It’s fitting that we’re using cycling to support this cause, because we’ve found it is a great way to take care of your mental health by seeing friends and staying active.”
Cygnet Sedgley House is a 20-bed high dependency inpatient rehabilitation service for men with complex needs in Wolverhampton. The service is designed to provide an environment that promotes mental health recovery by focusing on space, personal privacy and dignity. It is rated Good by the regulator, the Care Quality Commission.
Cygnet Heathers is 20-bed service providing neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative rehabilitation for men with mental health difficulties and acquired brain injury in West Bromwich. The living environment has been specially designed to assist service-users to manage visual, spatial and perceptual difficulties, and reduce frustrations and confusion resulting from brain injury.
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is a charity that raises support about male suicide, the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK. CALM was originally founded in 1997 when it set up a helpline in Merseyside and became a national charity in 2006.
To donate to Jim and Jason’s fundraising efforts visit their Just Giving page.