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On behalf of the team here at The Mountain Way, I welcome you to our new website.
About one year ago I was saying, with full confidence, that 2020 was going to be our year. Wrong!! It wasn’t, but instead it turned out to be better than anticipated. Firstly, we took on a contractor to boost our social media footprint and were delighted to welcome Lizzie onboard. She immediately got cracking on sorting out the various platforms and creating a plan for our future which raised our profile immeasurably.
As we watched with growing dismay the advance of the virus, so we saw the demise of all of our fund-raising initiatives, but then Lee and Ryan Powles came to our rescue, as reported above. They managed to raise £2,500 for us and cracked their challenge in 84 hours, which was an incredible achievement.
In July I was interviewed by Chris Thrall on his podcast, which you can see under the ‘media video & film’ tab. To date this has brought in an incredible 41,462 viewers, of which 1,059 actually liked it. Better still, four men who stated they had PTSD got in touch with me, and two of them are now on the potential guest list and likely to become full guests. Finally, a man who was on the “other side” of the blue-on-blue incident 39 years ago, got in touch and we had several long conversations, that not only cleared up some gaps in our collective knowledge, but I think helped him as well.
In September I managed to get John out to France for his Experience, despite the differing Covid-19 regulations in the UK, France and Spain, that created a very complicated flight plan for him and insertion plan for me. You can see the video report (29 minutes) on this link:
As the bleak year progressed with lockdowns and dire predictions so it became apparent that many more were now coming forward, seeking help with their mental health issues through social media, so we put our heads together and decided to create a dedicated support team.
As part of John’s post traumatic growth phase we offered him the post of co-ordinator, which he grabbed with both hands. Anne Richards had already been in touch offering her help as a skilled mentor and supporter of many with all sorts of problems, and Sophie Gibbett offered her services as a music therapist. We were very excited to welcome these intrepid ladies into the team and currently they are now helping a number of our potential guests and their families, giving them far more than just a vital lifeline in lonely times, but offering great assistance and empathy until we can get them onto the programme proper.
2021 just might be our year, this time! I am very proud of our team. Whilst others have struggled to continue operating we have flourished, and moved ahead another big step in providing very effective and long-lasting solutions to a desperate community, whose suicide rate is now running at one every 4 days.
I have no doubt that we shall weather this storm, and with the wonderful help of our fantastic supporters continue to serve those who served us. Thank you.
All the very best,
Andy
Ibiza, 24 January 2021
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