Show You Care

COLERAINE supporters are warmly invited to cheer on ardent Bannsider, Roger Anderson, as he completes his 280km walking challenge on Sunday…

By: Damian Mullan (Coleraine Chronicle) Photo: Ciaran Clancy

A Portstewart man who set out to walk 10K each day in February to raise awareness of mental health issues is inviting members of the public to join him for the final leg this weekend.

Award-winning journalist Roger Anderson will walk Portstewart’s Strand at noon on Sunday at the end of a gruelling 280K trek in which he has battled adverse weather conditions – as well as mental and physical obstacles.

Diagnosed with clinical depression more than 20 years ago, the one-time Chronicle reporter is only too aware of the daily challenges facing people living with mental health issues.

But he has also come to realise that there is light at the end of the tunnel – not least as a result of his ‘Bearded Man Walking’ initiative which began simply as a way of getting out of the house but which has since grown to become a source of inspiration for many.

“I needed to do it, to get out of the house,” admits Roger.

“I was worried about spending another month in the house and what it was going to do to me. I would go for a walk one day, maybe two, then nothing for a couple of days.

“A bad day for me maybe turned into a week so I thought what can I come up with that would make me walk? I thought if I’m gonna walk I might as well do it for charity or something because you’re beholden to other people then.”

After discovering the Portstewart based charity The Hummingbird Project following a quick trawl on the internet, Roger decided that the charity’s ethos pretty much matched his own feelings about mental health and the menace it presents to society.

“Having read up on Hummingbird, I thought it was perfect; I realised I had an empathy and an understanding with these people that I hadn’t encountered before,” continues the 58-year-old father of three.

“I think it was because of their lived experience – that was the difference for me.

“My wife Pam has been magnificent dealing with my mental health but she still doesn’t understand depression because she doesn’t have it.

“There’s just something about talking to somone who knows where you’re coming from and it was a big thing for me to walk in there.

“I hadn’t been leaving the house, I had social anxiety going to the shop. I was pretty desperate. I had gone about nine months in lockdown having suicidal thoughts every single day.

“I was worried that another month of isolation, of not doing anything, would cause me more harm but, within two weeks of doing my walk, my self worth and self esteem improved enormously,” he adds.

Not least because of the many kind words posted by followers of the weekly blog Roger writes to accompany his walk. Many have left comments describing how they have been inspired by Roger’s honesty and determination.

“I started the walk with no expectations: it was simply for me and to raise a couple of quid for the Hummingbird,” continues Roger, a former producer with the BBC.

“But I’ve had messages from all over the world, from New Zealand, China, the USA, across the UK, and they’ve all really helped.

“My concern, though, is that I’ve had more messages from women than men which shows that the stigma is still there about men and their mental health.”

Which has got Roger thinking: following completion of his walk he hopes to expand the ‘Bearded Man’ concept to continue shining a light where it’s needed most.

“We have the highest rate of suicide in Northern Ireland yet the lowest spend which is simply not good enough,” he argues.

“Last year, Robin Swann produced a ten year mental health plan for 2021-31 which has a lot of great ideas in it but they’re just words.

“My worry is that with Brexit, the protocol, walk-outs and everything else when will that report be read never mind implemented?

“In addition, 76 per cent of people who committed suicide here weren’t known to mental health services which makes me think that the message just isn’t getting through.

“I’ve been through the mill myself, I’ve been to hell and back with my mental health, and I try to just talk to people, not use slogans. People have to see that it’s real, that it’s a lived experience.

“I don’t know where this is gonna go but I hope to keep going in some form. I’m doing what I’m doing for myself but if that in turns helps one person or more then brilliant.”

Now, you have your chance to show solidarity with Roger and the Hummingbird Project at Sunday’s ‘Suicide: Show You Care’ event.

“I’m asking everyone to join me for the final leg of Bearded Man Walking at 12noon this Sunday in support of the families who have lost loved ones to suicide. This is your chance to show some love and make a statement,” states Roger.

“Together, we can send out a powerful message to the powers-that-be. They need to do more. The clock is ticking…and lives depend on it.”