Telford mother takes one million steps for charity which helped her during bereavement
A mother who lost her son to suicide has hit her target of one million steps to support the charity that helped her through the trauma of bereavement.
Andrea Logan-Weston, who works for Telford-based accountancy firm Turas Accountants, has been clocking up the steps with colleagues and friends since June in a 100-day campaign to collectively walk a billion steps for the Hope in Every Step campaign for Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide charity.
She said the charity had been a lifeline for her after her son, Nicholas, took his own life in April 2022, and she has completed numerous walks since the campaign started.
The finale was a 12-mile walk to mark the end of the campaign, which coincided with World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10.
"I wanted to get involved to help raise awareness of the work that SoBS does," Andrea said.
"The support group was a lifeline and helped me cope with the rollercoaster of emotions that followed Nicholas’s death."
The campaign ended on Sunday and the overall total of steps for the charity over 100 days was just short of a billion – 931,000,000.
Andrea, who said she had been blown away with the support of friends, not to mention their husbands and families, is hoping that the Hope in Every Step campaign will have raised awareness of the vital work that the charity does to support families that have been bereaved by suicide.
A spokesperson for the charity said: “The finest achievement of the campaign is the community that we have built together of survivors supporting each other, meeting up for walks and spreading encouragement to everyone.”
Further information is available on the SoBS website at uksobs.org or by calling the charity's national support line – 0300 111 5065.
*When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
