Kind-hearted staff at a Teesside hospital were so inspired by the fundraising efforts of a former soldier, they decided to mirror his efforts, whilst helping raise further funds and awareness.
Mind having seen his own family members experience mental ill health. Derek added, “Although I’ve travelled the world with the armed forces and now live in the Middle East, I’ll always consider the North East to be home. I know the people there are incredibly generous and if I can inspire them half as much as they have inspired me then this will all have been worthwhile.” Derek had originally targeted raising £1,000 but he has exceeded that. Lorna Routledge, fundraising officer at Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind explained the significance of the fundraising efforts: “One of our projects to provide mental health support to children costs £5,000 to run for six months. Between Derek, the team at Nuffield Health Tees Hospital and the Durham school, they’re making a huge contribution that will allow us to deliver that project again, at a time when our services have never been more needed. “On behalf of Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind and all of the people we support, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has shown such creativity and endurance to raise this amazing sum of money. You’re all heroes.”