Exhausted after 8-hour crawl – Clitheroe dad completes charity challenge

The fitness coach, who lives in Hodder Valley, is raising funds for play area improvements and for Mind Over Mountains, a mental health charity close to his heart.

He says he felt dizzy after the challenge, but it was all worthwhile.

“The support from my family and the community was amazing,” says Matt. “People were getting down and crawling bits with me.

“The most challenging part wasn’t the distance, but the road surface. I had been trying to gradually harden up the skin on my hands and feet to deal with areas of rough stone and gravel. On the day one of my kids helped out by sweeping stones on the worst parts.

“It was fantastic so many people turned out to fund raise for these two great causes,” he says. “Mind Over Mountains is a brilliant charity that offers mental wellbeing support in the outdoors, with no pressure.”

The charity organises walks and weekend retreats in National Parks including The Lakes and Peak District. Not only is walking and talking in nature itself therapeutic, every walk includes mindfulness sessions and the walkers are accompanied by qualified coaches and counsellors.

Research shows as many as 1 in 4 people will struggle with their mental health at some time this year.

Mind Over Mountains is now aiming to raise £500,000 to help meet the growing demand for mental health services in the north west region. The charity is increasingly working with social prescribing link workers, who are based within primary care networks such as GP practices. Patients can then qualify for free or heavily subsided places on walks and retreats, funded by the charity.

Matt's second good cause, the Dunsop Bridge Jubilee Play Area is a much-loved resource for communities across the Hodder Valley.

“It’s now in need of some TLC and we’d love to make it more accessible in a host of ways,” says Matt. “Plans include new play equipment for children and fitness equipment for teens and adults, to make it even more of a social and community hub.”

You can still support Matt by donating online at givestar – 10km bear crawl