Raising money in memory of a friend

Thursday 02 January 2020

A suicide prevention charity is going to be receiving a hefty donation from a local young man, who, after the death of a close friend, has committed to running the Brighton Half-Marathon in February.

Theo Duerden, 22, has so far raised £5,325 from 260 donations in memory of his late friend, Jacob Mahy.

Jacob took his own life in September 2019, just three months shy of his twenty-second birthday, "leaving a huge hole in the lives of all of his friends and family".

Mr Duerden said he wanted to be able to help prevent anyone having to struggle through what Jacob had dealt with, and so was donating his marathon sponsorship money to CALM - the Campaign Against Living Misery - an English charity that aims to be there for anyone who is struggling or in crisis. 

Pictured: As of the 31 December, Mr Duerden had raised £5,325 of his £6,000 target in sponsorship money for the half-marathon. He is going to donate the money to CALM, in memory of Jacob Mahy. 

"I got to know [Jacob] through school and then since we both left we carried on being in the same friendship groups and seeing each other out and about. We were always friends," Mr Duerden said.

"It was very strange when I found out what had happened, because I was at the UK at the time and have largely stayed there [for university]. Coming home was hard because it made it real."

Mr Duerden said he had chosen CALM because he felt that money could really make a difference to charities looking to tackle mental health as an issue. He has been training for the half marathon twice a week for the last few months, trying to run between five and 11k, but he wasn't looking to break any records: "That being said, my time doesn't really matter as I don't want this to be about me."

He was also happy to have received a lot of support from both Jacob's family and friends: "I was really surprised with the support I received. Everyone has been really encouraging and lots of people are coming over to Brighton to support me and go to the pub afterwards which I'm really looking forward to."

The Grand Brighton Half Marathon is taking place on the 23 February 2020, and Mr Duerden is still training for it. His JustGiving page is still open, and he is hoping to raise a total of £6,000 to donate to CALM. To visit the page, where Mr Duerden has written more about why he decided to commit to the challenge in memory of Jacob, click here. 

Pictured top: Jacob Mahy, left, and Theo Duerden, who were friends from school.