A Mile a Life 2023 – 8,432 miles completed

2023 marked the third year of A Mile a Life and we had more involvement than ever 280 participants and on average 800 activities per week!

Everyone taking part logged their activities on the Strava app to raise money for connected charities, helping to raise awareness of the importance of good mental health and to encourage people to make connections, reach out and speak out about their own challenges.

To help send us on our way on the day Persimmon Homes organised for Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee to meet the walkers and, as part of their Community Champions Initiative, Persimmon donated £5,000 to CDLF.

We were also joined by York Central Labour MP Rachael Maskell who chairs the all party parliamentary group on mental health.

Charlie’s sister, Victoria Taylor, said: “It’s our third year of doing this.

“The idea is that it creates a big sense of community and that creates a structure or route for people because not everybody needs crisis intervention.

“We are a fundraising organisation and we then gift the money on to other mental health support networks and charities locally.

“Charlie was massively into therapy and counselling, but that’s not for everyone and we have helped other forms of support including – Box Therapy, where people get involved in non-contact boxing and are supported by a team of therapists.”

Alistair said: “To see Charlie’s family and friends coming together on what would have been his birthday like this is very special.

“I like the idea of their challenge as it doesn’t matter how you cover the miles, it’s about being active and how that helps your mental and physical health. I really believe in the importance of activity, and routine and helping people create active habits.

“Sometimes all it takes is a bit of motivation and an event like this can inspire people to do activity and that becomes a habit.”

Scott Waters, managing director for Persimmon Homes Yorkshire, who knew Charlie, said: “Charlie was well-known and much-liked in York, and we’re delighted to be able to support the fantastic work of the CDLF through our Community Champions Initiative to help them to be able to continue to do such good work.”