AN EMOTIONALLY-fuelled bike ride has raised a whopping £40,000 for a Hampton-in-Arden charity.
A 32-strong group cycled from Hampton Health and Fitness Club to Amsterdam in aid of the Cameron Grant Memorial Trust last month.
The event was sponsored by David Wilson Homes.
Evan Grant, co-Founder and chair of Cameron Grant Memorial Trust, said: “Thanks to the hard work and determination of all our riders we’ve raised over £40,000 so far for the Trust, and are aiming to hit £50,000 as a smaller group of riders have carried on to Dunkirk.
“We were very lucky to have no rain for all four days of the ride. It was wonderful to see all the riders come together as a group and experience the team spirit they created.
“Most memorable was seeing a couple of riders, who started believing they couldn’t finish, showing fantastic determination and getting to the end.”
Cameron’s parents, Evan and Carol, alongside his brother, Alastair, created the Trust Cameron who took his own life in November 2014 at the age of 21.
The Trust urges anyone suffering in silence to speak up and ask for help.
Evan said: “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 Arden 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 Fentham Hall 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.
This year’s walk will take place on October 10 and will be the 10th anniversary of the first walk.
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.
“We want to congratulate all of the riders who have completed this challenge and everyone who has supported them on their journey.”
To learn more about the charity and its Hampton in Arden to Amsterdam bike ride, visit the Cameron Grant Memorial Trust website.
