A HOME builder has thrown their support behind a Solihull-based mental health charity’s latest fundraising event.
The Cameron Grant Memorial Trust’s Hampton in Arden to Amsterdam bike ride, which will see riders complete a 350-mile journey in three days, has been backed by David Wilson Homes.
The bike ride will take place from May 16 to 19 and the Trust has joined forces with the Hampton Health and Fitness Club to help organise the event, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary as the bike ride begins.
The mental health charity was founded in memory of Cameron Grant who took his own life in November 2014 at the age of 21.
Cameron’s parents, Evan and Carol, alongside his brother, Alastair, created the Trust to urge anyone suffering in silence to speak up and ask for help.
They do this by creating ’signposts’ with information to point those struggling in the direction of support.
These signposts might be the drinks mats known as Cameron’s Coasters, business cards, wellbeing postcards or any other kind of physical item on which help information can be printed.
Evan Grant said: “The Trust also makes small grants to support mental health innovation and other mental health charities. In 2024, the Trust made two grants totalling £23,000 to provide counselling support for young people in Solihull and Birmingham.”
“When Cameron died, nobody knew he was ill as he managed to hide his symptoms of depression from everyone who knew him. He suffered inside for over seven years, and we only know this from the letter he left us.
“Because Cameron bottled up all his troubles, our principal goal as the Cameron Grant Memorial Trust is to encourage anyone in mental distress, especially young people, to speak up and ask for help.
“It is hard to quantify the number of people we support, but we are confident that tens of thousands have seen Cameron’s Coasters, wellbeing postcards and other signposts, and we know that hundreds have used the keyword CAM when texting Shout 85258 for support.
“We live in Hampton in the house where Cameron grew up, and in the village where he first went to school. As a family, we received wonderful support from the local community when Cameron died, and we still do 10 years on.”
Every year on a Friday evening close to Cameron’s birthday, the family organises a night walk from Hampton through the fields to Barston and back again past Barston Lake. This has become an item in the village calendar and around 300 people take part from across Solihull and the surrounding communities.
Helen Lewis, Managing Director at David Wilson Homes Mercia, said: “We are proud to support this fantastic charity and its goal of reaching out to people in our society who are struggling in silence.”
For more about The Cameron Grant Memorial Trust and its Hampton in Arden to Amsterdam bike ride, visit the charity’s website.
