NEWS AND UPDATES
We are currently seeking people who are able to support us in our fundraising efforts. If you have any ideas or want to help organize and event, please get in touch! We're excited to hear what people come up with.
Keep track of all our events below and make sure to keep updated on our Social Media pages.
Current Fundraisers
Nige's walk of pain to the stocks of shame, please donate via the go fund me button
Nigel, who lives in Swinley, plans to walk barefoot from Wigan to Standish on Saturday, June 3, wearing nothing but a kilt and carrying a 35kg sandbag.
Once he arrives, he will be blindfolded and spend the night locked in the stocks outside St Wilfrid’s Church, before walking back to Wigan town centre the next day.
Nigel has dubbed his challenge Nige's Walk of Pain to the Stocks of Shame and hopes to raise £5,000, along with awareness of mental health service Empathy Northwest CIC.
Based on Library Street in Wigan town centre, it is run by volunteers and offers therapy sessions and other support at a subsidised rate for people struggling with their mental health.
Nigel Brookwell at the stocks in Standish where he will spend the night in his latest fund-raiser, pictured with Sam Doyle, from Empathy North West
The 49-year-old said: “The feedback I got from last year’s challenge was that it really helped. People spotted me crawling up Wigan Lane and picked up their phone to find out what I was doing. It led to people getting help, who might not have got it otherwise. It made me feel really helpful, knowing that I had helped people living in Wigan.
"It made me think what I could do this year that would follow up from the daft thing I did last year. It is so difficult time come up with anything that’s original these days.”
Nigel’s theme for the challenge is “tough times don’t last”, as he wants to convey the message that things can improve for people struggling with their mental health.
He hopes to highlight the range of emotions that people can face, from the tiredness he will battle during each four-and-a-half mile walk to feeling trapped and in a dark place as he spends the night in the stocks.
Nigel is encouraging people to join him on the walk, to help him combat any feelings of loneliness.
He is aiming to raise £5,000 for Empathy Northwest, but is also taking on the challenge to highlight the organisation’s work, as he is concerned about the number of people dying by suicide.
Nigel, who has two children, said: “I am kind of dreading it, but I like the physicality of these different challenges because it makes me feel useful. That’s what motivates me, particularly after the feedback I got last year.
"The more people that know about what I am doing, the more chance we have of getting someone to engage if they are struggling.”
Special thanks to the Freemason's donation to Nige
This is our 1st meet with Gordon Cooke ….Paul King from Wigan Lodge 2326 west Lancs FreeMasons donating a cheque for £250 towards our go fund me for 3rd/4th June ‘Walk of Pain ….to the stocks of Shame ‘ this is representing the mental health issues in our Community….and we @ Empathy Northwest CIC work continually to support mental health in our community….
Come join us on 3/4th June. Watch this space for more details & how you can support us .. Thank you again Gordon Cooke & Paul King.
Ambassadors of Empathy North West
Empathy are proud to be working alongside our new ambassadors.
A huge thank you to Emma Peters for your support in helping us to make our
dream in to a reality. We would like to introduce our ambassadors as:-
Callum Lang - WAFC
Jack Sanders - WAFC u23s
Lee McCulloch - Ex WAFC
Mark Heyes - chairman Ashton Town fc
Jay Whittle - From the popular full time whittle podcast
Peter Eccles - Thatto Heath u18s and Barla Lancashire coach
We are super excited and incredibly privileged to have this support in helping us to not only promote Empathy and the work that we do, but to help us pass on the message of how important it is to talk to someone about how you are feeling. Mental Health can still a taboo topic and we hope that by working together with our ambassadors, we can bring an awareness of not only the effects of mental health, but also promote the positives of how to look after our mental health. Sport can have a huge impact on helping promote a positive wellbeing.
