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About Embrace Lebanon
Embrace is a charity similar to Samaritans here in the UK that since its founding in 2013 has worked on raising awareness around mental health in Lebanon. In recent years it has ramped up its intervention work, most notably setting up a national telephone Lifeline for emotional support and suicide prevention.
Embrace's work has become even more crucial during the economic collapse that began in 2019, and now, in the aftermath of the explosion of 4th August, are rolling out an even more ambitious programme of on-street psychosocial support and extending the hotline's operating hours. This work is a crucial complement to the wide-ranging and necessarily huge relief effort mainly focusing on building medical capacity, ensuring food security and rebuilding homes. Numbers of people extending far beyond the official ranks of victims are suffering mental health repercussions: they may be dealing with the strain of securing their families' daily survival amid a convergence of multiple crises, or battling PTSD from the blast (often complicated by flashbacks to previous armed conflicts). At the same time as bolstering the mainstream medical infrastructure of the city, the aid effort must also be about supporting the mental health of Beirut's inhabitants. Embrace is tackling this challenge head-on and deserved financial support. See this brief report for a brief introduction to the scale of the mental health crisis.
For comprehensive information on Embrace, including annual reports and details of its current response, see their website.
About me
My name is Matt Saunders and I live in Bristol, England. I have strong links to Lebanon. I first visited in 2011 having become interested in the region and studied Arabic at university. Beirut is an enthralling city and Lebanon a beautiful country with majestic landscapes; I was hooked and went back in 2013 to live there for a total of five years. I met my wife, who is Lebanese, there and our daughter was born just over a mile from the port of Beirut. We left as the economic situation stared deteriorating in 2019, but Tusk, the bakery that I founded and built up in the Mar Mikhael neighbourhood, is still going. The day after the explosion, the current managers sent me photos of the decimated street-level shop. Luckily the basement bakery (and the staff working inside) was unscathed.
I have battled with depression for years and have experienced several suicidal episodes, particularly when struggling with the logistical, physical and emotional challenges of running a bakery business at the same time as caring for a young child. I am aware of the intense feeling of isolation that comes with such episodes and so appreciate the importance of Embrace's Lifeline. Embrace's work thus has acute personal relevance on many levels.
The challenge
From the 15th of September, I will attempt to cycle from the northernmost village in Scotland, John O Groats, to the southernmost point in England, Land's End. The End to End is a well known cycling challenge and a milestone for touring cyclists in the UK. I will aim to make the journey in under ten days, cycling around 100 miles a day, and in view of the current pandemic, go unsupported, sleeping in my tent along the way. This is the kind of ride I relish, as it gives the opportunity to engage fully with the landscapes and probe my own physical and mental limits. I find it intensely psychologically nourishing.
Before and during the ride I will post one or two updates on this Instagram account I have set up specifically for this challenge. Please follow me there and share with anyone you think might be interested.
Fundraising
I hope, with your help, to raise £5,000 by the end of the cycle ride. When I finish the ride I will end the fundraising campaign and donate all money raised to Embrace. 97.1% of donations will be added to the pot, since a 2.9% transfer fee will apply to each payment, but I pledge cover the international transfer fee myself. The choice of Embrace Lebanon as the recipient of the funds I raise is apt, as cycling has always helped me look after my mental wellbeing, giving me space to breath deeply and gain longer term perspective on immediate challenges. Embrace will use these funds to staff their current responses to the mental health emergency that accompanies the aftermath of the Beirut explosion. I highly recommend visiting their website for information on how they spend their funds.
Thank you for any contribution you feel you can give.
Embrace is a charity similar to Samaritans here in the UK that since its founding in 2013 has worked on raising awareness around mental health in Lebanon. In recent years it has ramped up its intervention work, most notably setting up a national telephone Lifeline for emotional support and suicide prevention.
Embrace's work has become even more crucial during the economic collapse that began in 2019, and now, in the aftermath of the explosion of 4th August, are rolling out an even more ambitious programme of on-street psychosocial support and extending the hotline's operating hours. This work is a crucial complement to the wide-ranging and necessarily huge relief effort mainly focusing on building medical capacity, ensuring food security and rebuilding homes. Numbers of people extending far beyond the official ranks of victims are suffering mental health repercussions: they may be dealing with the strain of securing their families' daily survival amid a convergence of multiple crises, or battling PTSD from the blast (often complicated by flashbacks to previous armed conflicts). At the same time as bolstering the mainstream medical infrastructure of the city, the aid effort must also be about supporting the mental health of Beirut's inhabitants. Embrace is tackling this challenge head-on and deserved financial support. See this brief report for a brief introduction to the scale of the mental health crisis.
For comprehensive information on Embrace, including annual reports and details of its current response, see their website.
About me
My name is Matt Saunders and I live in Bristol, England. I have strong links to Lebanon. I first visited in 2011 having become interested in the region and studied Arabic at university. Beirut is an enthralling city and Lebanon a beautiful country with majestic landscapes; I was hooked and went back in 2013 to live there for a total of five years. I met my wife, who is Lebanese, there and our daughter was born just over a mile from the port of Beirut. We left as the economic situation stared deteriorating in 2019, but Tusk, the bakery that I founded and built up in the Mar Mikhael neighbourhood, is still going. The day after the explosion, the current managers sent me photos of the decimated street-level shop. Luckily the basement bakery (and the staff working inside) was unscathed.
I have battled with depression for years and have experienced several suicidal episodes, particularly when struggling with the logistical, physical and emotional challenges of running a bakery business at the same time as caring for a young child. I am aware of the intense feeling of isolation that comes with such episodes and so appreciate the importance of Embrace's Lifeline. Embrace's work thus has acute personal relevance on many levels.
The challenge
From the 15th of September, I will attempt to cycle from the northernmost village in Scotland, John O Groats, to the southernmost point in England, Land's End. The End to End is a well known cycling challenge and a milestone for touring cyclists in the UK. I will aim to make the journey in under ten days, cycling around 100 miles a day, and in view of the current pandemic, go unsupported, sleeping in my tent along the way. This is the kind of ride I relish, as it gives the opportunity to engage fully with the landscapes and probe my own physical and mental limits. I find it intensely psychologically nourishing.
Before and during the ride I will post one or two updates on this Instagram account I have set up specifically for this challenge. Please follow me there and share with anyone you think might be interested.
Fundraising
I hope, with your help, to raise £5,000 by the end of the cycle ride. When I finish the ride I will end the fundraising campaign and donate all money raised to Embrace. 97.1% of donations will be added to the pot, since a 2.9% transfer fee will apply to each payment, but I pledge cover the international transfer fee myself. The choice of Embrace Lebanon as the recipient of the funds I raise is apt, as cycling has always helped me look after my mental wellbeing, giving me space to breath deeply and gain longer term perspective on immediate challenges. Embrace will use these funds to staff their current responses to the mental health emergency that accompanies the aftermath of the Beirut explosion. I highly recommend visiting their website for information on how they spend their funds.
Thank you for any contribution you feel you can give.