A team of railway workers based at Ramsgate depot are due to set off on a 100-mile walk over four days to raise money and awareness for mental health charity Mind UK.
Team Getting Back On Track is made up of Ramsgate conductor Tom Morgan and driver and conductor colleagues Greg Hewitt, Brad Wall, Jez Del Signore, and Louis Sarraf.
Tom, from Broadstairs, said: “We are raising awareness around mental health issues and the positive impact walking and talking can have on that.
“We’ll be walking from Ramsgate to London Victoria for Mind UK, via all the mainline stations, over 100 miles in 4 days. We want to help get people walking and talking.
“Last year there was over 275 suicides on the railways and we want to number to reduce dramatically.”
The trek will mean the team walking a marathon each day with the expected arrival at Victoria station in London at 5pm on Wednesday.
Tom, who told Thanet Academy FM this morning that he has talked two people down from potential suicide on the railway, says he came up with the idea at a family barbecue and his four work friends said they would join him.
He said: Mind UK fits perfectly with what we are trying to do. We want to get people walking and talking because too often we won’t talk about how we feel mentally.”
The team will leave from Ramsgate station at 7am tomorrow and make their way for an overnight stay in Whitstable before carrying on their journey to the capital.
They have a justgiving page and have already raised £2,370 for Mind UK.
