We've teamed up with the Campaign Against Living Miserably for Mental Health Awareness Week to launch the Power of 8 – our campaign to raise awareness of mental health and, in the process, enjoy a bike ride.
CALM is leading a movement against suicide, the single biggest killer of men aged under 45 in the UK and the cause of 18 deaths every day.
What we want you to do
- Go for a ride that involves the number eight between 18 May and 25 May (Bank Holiday Monday in the UK)
- Tell us about your ride(s) on social media accounts using #rideforCALM and #powerof8
- Share your posts, challenging eight friends to do the same
- If you can, donate to CALM via our JustGiving page.
CALM's support services include a free and confidential helpline and webchat for anyone who needs to talk about life’s problems. Just £8 funds one potentially life-saving call to the CALM helpline.
With that in mind, we're asking you – the BikeRadar readers – to #rideforCALM to the #powerof8.
This means going for a ride that involves the number eight: eight miles or multiples of eight, a piece of Strava art in a figure of eight, eight local climbs, eight loops of your local trail, eight hours on Zwift, eight consecutive days of riding...
Get creative and, more importantly, go out and enjoy time on your bike.
How to donate
CALM has seen a surge in calls to its free helpline since the UK’s coronavirus lockdown began. Just £8 can fund one potentially life-saving call.
Any donation is welcome, big or small, via our JustGiving page.
At BikeRadar, we're all cyclists and understand not only the joy that riding a bike can bring, but also the respite and head space it can offer from the strains of everyday life.
That has been more important than ever during the coronavirus crisis. For riders in countries where cycling has been permitted through the pandemic, time on two wheels has provided an opportunity to escape, both physically and mentally.
For charities, however, the crisis has severely impacted fundraising at a time when its services are more in demand than ever.
CALM has answered more than 19,000 calls and webchats during the lockdown so far, while CALM's nationwide survey showed that 43 per cent of people felt that the current pandemic and UK lockdown has had a significant negative impact on how they feel every day.
Join us this week in raising awareness of mental health.
Enjoy the ride!
