Man starts awareness-raising walk of British coast

A man has set off on a 11,000 mile (17,700 km) walk around the coast of Britain to raise awareness of men's mental health.

Jason Holbrook from Telford in Shropshire said he would also raise money for six charities and aims to complete the journey in 18 months from its start on Friday in Barmouth, Gwynedd.

He will do it carrying a 25kg (55lb) backpack containing a tent and camping equipment, saying he was "carrying the house on my back".

The former soldier said he had suffered from his own mental health problems and added: "I suppose I'm going out there to find myself."

Mr Holbrook said the charities he was supporting were all close to his heart and had all helped him, his family or friends in some way.

He said he had experienced mental health problems from a young age and had suffered a series of setbacks, through ill health, family break-up and being attacked by a burglar.

"One of the problems that I suffered with is not speaking about it," he said, and he wanted to encourage other men to open up about their problems.

Mr Holbrook said he was inspired to attempt the coastal trek by another ex-serviceman, Chris Lewis, who had completed the journey for charity in 2023.

He set off from Barmouth on Friday morning, with the aim of walking anti-clockwise around the coast.

During his preparations for the walk, Mr Holbrook said he had been travelling up to 20 miles (32km) a day, but expected fatigue, the weather and not having a proper bed to sleep in could reduce that.

He also said he expected cold days on the Scottish coast when he would question the wisdom of undertaking the journey, but said: "It's something I want to achieve."

He also said: "A lot of it is mental, I learnt that in the army. It doesn't matter how physically fit you are, if you aren't mentally fit you aren't going to make it through."

On the walk, he said he hoped to learn self-reliance and said people with mental health problems often put "too much reliance on other people".

He also hoped to learn to control his anxiety and something about "the humanity of people".

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