A Teesside mental health group is setting up walks in an attempt to combat mental health and boost people’s mental wellbeing.
Walk N Talk, a group founded in February of 2020, was initially created to help tackle men’s mental health and help veterans; but now helps people in the Teesside area with its organised walks in the Seafront town of Redcar.
The walks are held every Thursday in different locations and times to accommodate everyone who works.
The walks last for an hour, and whilst you do not need to talk and speak if you are not ready or uncomfortable, it is definitely encouraged.
The group relaunched earlier this year to include all members of the public after founder Gareth Howell was “asked for two years whether others can come or not” and realised “Not including them was the wrong thing to do”.
The page has now reached over 400 members on it’s private Facebook page that anyone can join.
Gareth , a decorated veteran of 23 years in the Royal Corps of Signals, recently took part in the FU Suicide walk in September, to help raise awareness and money for the charities Veterans at Ease and Find the light.
Gareth recently spoke to Students on campus about the group and left them with “a few tools” that “will come in useful” whilst explaining the benefits of physical exercise towards a persons mental wellbeing.
Believing that everyone has “limiting beliefs” he wants to help others “fulfil their potential” and hopes that he can help as many people as possible, he says “trust the river will bend, a river will always find its way to the sea”
Gareth hopes his group one day becomes a normal part of NHS treatment to help people suffering with mental health .
He said: “It’s just a remedy for people, It’s a remedy for anyone”.
Before people get put onto medication and drugs he wants to have Walk N Talk as the “first stage of treatment”.
Everyone in the group currently benefits from “speaking to other lads and lasses who have been through something similar” and it’s with this he thinks it will be a better alternative to try before medication becomes involved.
Gareth believes that with the combination of exercise, talking and bonding, tackling personal issues, depression and anxiety becomes a less daunting task especially when it’s done in a safe environment.
He said: “We don’t judge anybody, we like to find an environment for them so they can speak without being judged.”
Future walks are posted onto the Facebook page regularly.
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