Sunday 3rd August 2025

Charlies little sister, Alex and her best friend Emma ran the York 10k to raise awareness for mental health by flying Charlies flag.

Charlie sadly lost his life to suicide in August 2020. A life that was taken too soon, an unimaginable tragedy that no family should have to go through.

By raising awareness for mental health the hope is that it educates the public, reduces the stigma, and promotes support for those with mental health conditions.  All of which can be raised through organised events like today and leveraging social media to reach a wide audience.

Suicide is the main cause of death in young people under the age of 35 in the UK.

More than 720,000 people die by suicide every year.  For each suicide , there are an estimated 20 suicide attempts.

@ripplesuicideprevention

R;pple is an interceptive tool designed to present a visual prompt when a person searches for harmful keywords or phrases relating to the topic of self-harm or suicide.

At R;pple, they are dedicated to intercepting harmful content related to self-harm and suicide through innovative technology. There mission is fuelled by the personal experience of our founder, Alice Hendy, who tragically lost her only sibling, Josh, to suicide. Josh was 21.

Josh had been searching for techniques to take his own life through harmful internet searches. Witnessing the lack of appropriate support available online, Alice was inspired to take action.

@carecent

Carecent is a breakfast centre for all homeless, unemployed or otherwise socially excluded members of our community.

They provide food, clothing and fellowship in a friendly and non-judgemental environment. There volunteer staff are always ready to listen and offer support and advice where possible. Where appropriate, they work with other agencies in order to move people forward to an improved lifestyle.

Carecent is open to people aged 18+ six mornings a week – Monday to Saturday

@sashyorks

SASH is a youth homelessness charity that works across York, North and East Yorkshire.

They help young people aged 16-25 who are facing homelessness.

They do not run a hostel or own any property. The accommodation they offer is through their Nightstop and Supported Lodgings services, which rely on volunteer ‘hosts’ who offer a spare room in their own home. The services are as much about supporting young people to resolve the problems which have led to them becoming homeless as they are about putting a roof over their head.

Last but not least our 4th chosen charity we donated to in December..

@the_hut_york

The Hut York is a members-led charity, bringing creativity and purpose to the lives of adults with their mental health journeys, and/or learning disabilities. Supporting individuals, both long and short term.

They are here to provide purposeful and meaningful workshops, sessions and activities, designed by our members.

They work to coach, guide and support you on daily Lifeskills – problem solving, thinking critically and creatively, communicating effectively, building healthy relationships and coping with everyday tasks.

Nicky of JDW wrote on their blog

“Our 8th Year of running this little charity event and what a day it was!!

The sun was shining, the mud was a-plenty, and you all came out in force to show your support.

We had a total of 143 entries, with 118 toeing the start line on the day.

Huge thank you to everyone that helped out on the day – marshals, sweeper, spectators and sponsors (who enabled us to provide you with those awesome t-shirts without taking any of the funds from the race for the charity)”

For more details you can go to. THE HOODED HORSE 10K 2023 (jdw-fitness.co.uk)

Lots of exciting things happening to raise awareness and support people with their mental health.

“In a world where you can be anything, be more Charlie”

Watch this space ………..

With that in mind and in keeping with the season of giving, we would like you to join us in our Christmas Campaign to “share a smile”.

You never truly know the impact of a kind word, a gesture or simply being a listening ear.

Throughout the month of December our CDLF team will be partaking in a random act of kindness and we would love you to do the same and share it with us.

We will be helping you along each day of advent with a little inspiration so watch out to see what’s behind the door!

In the words of our boy Charlie, “if you can simply make someone else smile to bring a moments happiness, it could be enough to change their day”

And when someone else helps you to do that, be sure to pay it forward and do the same for someone else.

The foundation was delighted to be approached by Sue Lake of White Rose Books, Thirsk.  She wanted to run this years Great North Run to fundraise for CDLF.

Sue wrote “Why has bookselling prepared me for a Half Marathon

Endurance – long periods of standing

Mental Strength – long periods with the public

Self Belief – long periods acting like you know what you are doing

Hydration – there’s water in Americano’s

Nutrition – familiar snacking on dry biscuits

Strength Training – Books are heavy

Flexibility – stretching & reaching into the pesky broom cupboard

Pace yourself 0 its a 9 hour shift, don’t give all you’ve got on your 1st customer

Finding your Why – Books are good for you, me everyone. As is exercise

That’s me prepped then. Wish me luck”

Sue didn’t just run the Great North Run she smashed it! Over £1000.00 raised so far CDLF we couldn’t thank you enough!

A whole host of generous businesses helped raised an astonishing £10,814.51 this is the most incredible amount.

You can view all the event details on Instagram rustic_rendezvous_cdlf

We are absolutely blown away by the generosity and kindness of people, but especially Sarah, Stacey and Eleonor for pulling the whole thing together.

It is not often a Lancaster is lost for words however on this occasion the kindness was something else

To view photos from the night please click on the link below!

https://joannastouchphotography.pixieset.com/rusticrendezvouscharitynight/