Our family has raised funds for YoungMinds since 2018 when my beautiful daughter Eloise died by suicide.
We originally became involved with the charity when we set up a tribute site on Much Loved in Eloise’s memory. We set up the site as a way of collecting and sharing memories, stories, music and photographs of Eloise. We have found it a great comfort, both as an outlet for our own grief and also to hear how much Eloise meant to her friends and other members of our wider family.
We and others still post on the website: Tribute to Eloise Land, 2000 - 2018.
In setting up the website, we chose to allow visitors to donate to YoungMinds, as a way of expressing their own support and sympathy. We chose YoungMinds as we admired the work that it does in raising the profile of young people’s mental health, and in providing practical support to young people and their families.
The website has also provided a focal point for further fundraising activities. For example, a number of Eloise’s friends did a Colour Run in her memory a few months after she died, and some friends and I did the London Duathlon in 2021.
I’m going a step further and having a go at a the sprint triathlon at Blenheim Palace in June 2024. This involves swimming 750m, cycling 20k and doing the last 5k by foot (hopefully running).
While we are pleased to have been able to raise money for such a good cause, that has been secondary to being able to look back on what a lovely young woman our daughter was, and to hear stories about her from other people who loved her.
I have lived in London for just over 30 years, where I work for the civil
service. As part of my role, I am a champion for supportive workplace practices regarding mental health and wellbeing, both in the civil service and more broadly.
I am married to Cindy, and as well as Eloise, we have a daughter living and working in Manchester and a son at university in Bristol. Among other things, I enjoy football, karaoke and gardening.
Having experienced acute mental health problems both directly an through people I love, I have come to realise how precious it is to enjoy positive mental health.
I also feel strongly that it is important as a society to be open about mental health issues, so that people who are having a hard time know that they are not alone.
Pragmatic
Optimistic
Resilient
Matty is one of our young Activists running the Great North Run on the 7 of September 2025.
Alfie and Mike began fundraising for us in 2023, in memory of their brother and son, Riley, and family friend, Trey.
Holty's Boys are cycling from London to Brussels between Wednesday 3 September and Friday 5 September.
