A man from Newfoundland’s southern shore started a more than 300-kilometre walk Friday from Signal Hill in St. John’s to raise money for mental health.
“I’m walking around the Irish Loop. It’s going to take me about a week. I’m hoping to cover 45 to 50 kilometres a day. It all depends on how I’m feeling,” said Bill Guiney, of Renews.
Along the way, Guiney is collecting money for groups that offer mental health services. He’s also gathering stories for a book of first-person accounts of mental health struggles.
“The book is going to be called Push because I started this about eight years ago and it was a push–up challenge and I guess it represents pushing through mental health and I’m also pushing a stroller right around the Irish Loop,” he said.
Some of the stories will be hard to read but Guiney promises others, like his own, will offer hope.
“We have a couple of daughters that ended up in the hospital eight years ago because of mental health. They’re still here but they are struggling,” said Guiney. “They have good days and bad days. So that’s my inspiration. That’s my push.”
It isn’t his first fundraiser and like the other ones he’s done, this latest one will require stamina and grit.
“A couple of years ago I walked across the island. I came from Port aux Basques to here [Signal Hill],” he said.
“I walked about 1,000 kilometres and I did 10 push ups every kilometre.”
This time Guiney says he’s got everything he needs to sleep outdoors for a week. He has a green tarp he’ll fashion into a sort of tent to protect him from the rain.
“I’m going to attach it here on an angle,” he said pointing to the stroller full of supplies he’s bringing.
“I have an air mattress and food that’s been frozen, so that’s going to thaw out over the next couple of days.”
Some of the money Guiney raises is going to the Ruah Counselling Centre.
The organization says it will go a long way to help them help others.
“As a nonprofit community counselling agency, Ruah relies on supports and sponsorships from people, like Bill, and other community partners and donors, to provide the mental health services that we provide,” said Amelia O’Dea, Ruah’s executive director and lead counsellor.
Another third of the money will go to The Gathering Place in St. John’s. One of its leaders says there is still a lot of work to be done.
“The stigma on mental health is pretty heavy still. We say it’s not … but it’s still very alive and well,” said Andrew Holm manager of fund development and partnerships.
Guiney hopes to be in Trepassey by Sunday and expects to finish up his trip back on Signal Hill on or before Friday.
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