Meet Rhys, one of our many amazing supporters at Cwm Taf Morgannwg Mind!

Rhys, originally from Pontypridd, recently took part in our Move 100 Miles in May challenge and absolutely smashed it!
Not only did he complete the full 100 miles (with a few extra), but he also raised more than his set target!

Now working for a freight business based in Cardiff, Rhys is also a DJ and has supported many other DJ’s at gigs and festivals all over the country.
With his work on times being extremely stressful, when he’s home he makes sure to switch off from his busy work schedule to spend time with his family, friends and even taking trips to the USA to see his brother, sister in-law and nieces.

In a chat with Rhys, we initially asked him why he decided to fundraise for us.

“I’ve done a lot of fundraising in the past for charities that have been close to family such as Ty Hafan and the Alzheimer’s Society. But chose Cwm Taf Morgannwg Mind this time round as I’ve recently gone through my own struggles and felt like it’s something that I needed to highlight and raise funds for CTM Mind that can help people in a similar position as myself.”

Upon further conversation we then spoke about the challenge he took part in, how he prepared for it and what methods he used to complete it.

“I didn’t prepare for the challenge at all but I had been doing some running prior but not specifically for the challenge.”

“Although to complete the challenge I walked, ran and cycled. I did prefer cycling as you can cover a lot of miles in a shorter period of time but I also enjoyed the mental side of running as it’s a lot more difficult to keep up the mileage. I pushed myself a lot more running and tried to increase the distance every run.”

During the challenge Rhys clocked up as much as 25 miles by cycling and a minimum of 5 miles on foot!

As Rhys mentions above, he has had his own struggles with mental health and he goes into a bit more depth by sharing his story.

“I always thought I was pretty strong mentally. There’s obviously certain periods during life that are difficult but I’ve never thought that I couldn’t get through it. But certain things in my life started falling apart and a lot of that was my own doing. I attended counselling and seen my GP who then prescribed me sertraline. It helped for a period of time but anxiety is a crippling illness and it didn’t take long to get back in a hole.”