Donations pass £65k for cyclist killed fundraising for Mind
Howard Lake | 25 March 2014 | News
Nearly 5,000 donations have been made, totalling £65,520 so far, to mental health charity Mind on the JustGiving page set up by Christian Smith, the cyclist who was killed at the weekend on his fundraising cycle ride.
He had set out to cycle ‘the Kent Epic’ – 248 miles around Kent, non-stop in 24 hours. The father of three had hoped to raise £1,000.
He wrote on his JustGiving page:
“I want to support the charity MIND, raise awareness towards the great support that they offer, and help bring an end to the stigma that is attached to those who suffer from mental health problems.
“I have had my own misfortune to suffer from a spate of poor mental health, which was unexpected and has been a real ‘game changer’ in how I now view the future.”
He added:
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“There are those who are not so fortunate to have the same level of support and understanding. They suffer in silence and are alone. This challenge is for those people.”
He was hit by a car near Chestfield in Kent in the early hours of 22 March. An 18 year old woman was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and causing death by dangerous driving. A 19 year old man was also arrested by police on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, and then bailed pending further investigation.
Christian Smith’s family posted an update to his JustGiving page, saying:
“Taking on this challenge was Christian’s way of doing something positive to make sure that people facing mental health problems are not alone and the many messages of support and generosity of donations are a great comfort to us at this extremely sad and difficult time.”
Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind, said:
“We were shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of Christian Smith. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this extremely difficult time.
“Mind is grateful for the continued dedication of all our fundraisers, without whom we would not be able to support the hundreds of thousands of people affected by mental health problems across England and Wales.”
Photo: bike wheel by Alex Norkin on Shutterstock.com
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.