Skydiving for Men's Mental Health

Hi, and thank you for stopping by.

To those of you that may be reading this that don’t know me, my name is Stephen, but my friends call me Fez.

Like you, I am somebodies Son, Father, Brother and somebodies partner. Like you, I have encountered mental health issues in the past, and still, often battle with social anxieties and depression. We are not alone. 1 in 3 people will experience mental health-related issues at some point in their lives, and yet there is still so much stigma attached to admitting it.

So that’s why I am raising money for Muted the registered charity advocating awareness of Men’s mental health issues.

I am going to tell you a little about myself, my experiences and why I think it’s so important.

First thing you should know is I suffer from depression and social anxiety, I am unmediated but have found my own balance using communication and meditation. Now I am aware of when I am starting on the spiral, and I am mostly able to prevent myself from going to any ‘real’ dark places.

I had issues with drink and drugs in my early twenties; this only exaggerated any issues I already had and gave me some new ones to add to the collection. I have been suicidal on several occasions and on really bad days still, have to explain to my internal voice why I shouldn’t kill myself and why people would miss me. None of this is here for you to feel sorry for me, I don’t need you to feel bad, I need you to realise you can not tell, from looking at someone how much pain they are going through.

If it hadn’t had been for the support from my friends and family, I wouldn’t be here. I am lucky enough to know that, I can share everything with them without judgement. Not everybody feels as if they can, but they should.

Secondly, I am petrified of heights, when I say petrified I mean it. A few years ago I did a bungee jump, in a misguided attempt to cure myself of this fear, it didn’t work…

I froze and had to ask the bloke manning it to give me a nudge, and with my eyes closed, I plummeted towards the ground limp like a rag-doll, too afraid to open my eyes, until I bounced and saw the ground rushing away from me as I open my eyes. I almost vomited everywhere. But I knew it wouldn’t be the last time. This time around I am going bigger and better; I will be ascending up to 13,000ft-ish and then free-falling for around 60 seconds… So here I am again asking you to donate some of your hard earned cash to support me in this cause. I am asking you to give generously of course but the price of a decent coffee from many of you will help me surpass my goal and then some. I have been tasked with raising £400, £200 of which will cover the expenses of the jump. Because regardless of how much I do raise I will be paying this fee myself and donating 100% of what I raise to the charity. So as Tesco would say “Every Little Helps”.

Of course, if you can’t donate I understand completely, you may not be able to help financially but you CAN still help, share this cause with your friends and family; but most importantly ask your friends if they are ok and ask them TWICE.