On Sunday 25th February 14 intrepid runners undertook the 13 mile Brighton half marathon course on a warm and sunny day and fundraised a marvellous £4K for MindOut – they did an amazing job and all completed the course with enthusiasm and determination. We had an 8 strong crew from Bear Patrol who were all fundraising for MindOut’s LGBTQ counselling service and 6 individuals, one of whom, (Eric Banks) ran the entire course with a rucksack containing 300 rocks to commemorate all the trans and non-binary lives lost last year as a result of hate crime. Eric said I am running for awareness, for love and for the LGBT+ community. Trans lives matter and we will not be erased.
Bear Patrol are a vital fundraising force for LGBTQ communities in Brighton and Hove and we are so grateful that they are fundraising for our LGBTQ counselling service for the third year running – we could not deliver this service without them and it goes to show how central LGBTQ fundraisers and donors are to keeping LGBTQ specific services alive and well – thank you Danny, Lawrence (seen in pic) and the other 6 marvellous BP runners.
So all hail the runners but also a special thank you to our 4 volunteers on the day. Thank you to Eli Hythova and Eliot Hancock who are our brilliant social media and fundraising volunteers, Rosie Hayes who helped the race run smoothly and to Maxine Dalgleish-Quinn from Beam Therapies who provided post-race massage to our weary runners. A final thank you goes to Jing Massage who put us in touch with Maxine in the first place!
Thank you so much for caring about LGBTQ mental health and for offering your precious time to us for free.