Burnley man's John O'Groats to Land's End cycle - without leaving Lancashire and Yorkshire

A retired policeman who overcame depression to cycle from Burnley to Corfu is getting in the saddle again to ride the distance of John O'Groats to Land's End for the charity MIND.
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Former British Transport Police officer John Wilson, who also suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, started his "journey" today, which will involve him cycling 895 miles around Lancashire and Yorkshire, as well as his garden in Ightenhill, for the mental health charity.

It will be the third huge fund-raising challenge the 60-year-old has attempted in recent years having also kayaked from Burnley to London.

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He said: "The reason I have chosen MIND is that one thing that has come out of this Covid crisis is how much we as a society rely on the third sector as the fourth emergency service.

John Wilson, when he kayaked from Burnley to London in 2016John Wilson, when he kayaked from Burnley to London in 2016
John Wilson, when he kayaked from Burnley to London in 2016

"I have suffered from period of severe depression and PTSD for the most part of my adult life and have used cycling to elevate myself back to some form of normality.

"I am now retired as a mental health worker myself, but believe that we are seeing many people experiencing mental health problems due to lockdown, isolation and an uncertain future.

"Last Friday, I took a phone call off a veteran who was shielding and isolated from the outside world bar food shopping. He was crying and talking about ending it all (I took that as suicide).

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"It took both myself and my wife over an hour to console him and talk him down and felt that it didn’t warrant a welfare check from an overstretched police service on VE day.

"For many years, mental health services have been the poor cousin as far as funding is concerned and has heavily relied on the third sector to provide support through its specialised services they can provide but, this cost money hence why I have taken on this challenge.

"I intend to cycle the total distance between Lands end to John O’Groats around the roads of Lancashire and Yorkshire but returning to my home address in Ightenhill for food and rest while adhering to social distancing at all times."

To support John visit the page www.justgiving.com/john-wilson115

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Former soldier and police officer John had to be airlifted to hospital by the RAF in 2009 after collapsing on Scafell Pike in the Lake District. The shock sent the father-of-four into a spiral of depression, but help from the British Heart Foundation and Healthy Lifestyles’ team at Burnley’s St Peter’s Centre, led to John’s new lease of life.

John believes his heart attack was triggered by stress. In 2008 he was knocked unconscious in an attack at London’s Victoria Station while serving in the British Transport Police. The remarkable man moved to Burnley in 2009 after meeting his wife Shirley.

He added: "I applied to work at the Nightingale Hospital in Manchester but was turned down as I suffer from bronchitis and was diagnosed with pneumonia 18 months ago. But I feel as though I needed to do something.

"I have now applied to train as a volunteer case worker for the armed services charity SSAFA."

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