A company director and former Samaritans volunteer is pounding the pavements ready for next month’s Morrisons Great North Run to raise vital funds for the charity.
Robert Matthews, 43, from Salford, will be running the 13.1 mile route from Newcastle to South Shields on Sunday 13 September over the course of five months, and said it kickstarted his plans to run again.
He chose to raise money for Samaritans after volunteering for the charity, later becoming chairman of the Manchester and Salford branch, and even meeting his wife there.
“I spoke to hundreds of people who felt they had nowhere else to turn to. Some were dealing with big life events like bereavement, divorce or redundancy; others were simply lonely or sad.
“I took calls and also got involved in outreach work, for example Samaritans’ Prison Listener Scheme at Manchester and Forest Bank prisons. At weekends, I trained new volunteers.
“I met some amazing and inspiring people, including Clare, a fellow volunteer, who is now my beautiful wife and the mother of my son. So, Samaritans changed my life too and will always be close to my heart.
Samaritans relies almost entirely on donations.
The money raised by its athletes in the Great North Run will help the charity to be there for anyone who needs to talk about anything that’s bothering them, by phone, email, text, or face to face in one of its 201 branches across the UK and Ireland.
Robert added: “I recently lost a lot of weight and started running again for the first time in years. When the opportunity to run and raise money came about, there was only one cause I could possibly have chosen. I hope that through running this race and raising awareness, people will come out and support Samaritans. It not only changes and saves lives every day, it also transformed mine.”
Samaritans’ Events Fundraiser, Bay Rees, said, “We wish Robert, and all our Team Samaritans runners the best of luck and know they’ll do us proud. We’re extremely grateful for their dedication and support, thanks to which our services can be there round the clock for anyone struggling to cope. We’ll be cheering our athletes on right to the finishing line.”
You can spur Robert on by helping him fundraise at this JustGiving page.
