GD's Health Hub - In Memory of Graham Deakin

***UPDATE*** We have received a further £1,510 in cash donations from the generous people at ZF Birmingham. The donations were in the form of sponsorship for our 12-mile walk on October 29th. A further £250 was also pledged by the company itself. We also want to say a massive thank you to Thomas and June Evans who also raised an additional £845, taking our total amount raised past the £10,000 mark! Thank you to all those that sponsored us.

On May 5th 2022 my dad, Graham Deakin, sadly passed away after an attempt to take his own life two weeks earlier. Unfortunately, suicide amongst men is not uncommon; in fact statistics show that suicide is the single biggest killer of men in the UK under the age of 45.

As a result, two other former professional footballers (Karl Hawley and Wayne Thomas) and I are looking to raise funds to set up a non-profit organisation in Dad's honour.

The purpose of the organisation, which we are planning to call GD’s Health Hub, will be to provide a safe environment for men in the West Midlands to talk and share their concerns. This initial fundraiser is aiming to raise the money to set up the organisation and create the space.

The latest statistics show that an average of 12 men in the UK take their own life every single day – so on October 29th 2022, we will be kicking off our fundraising with a 12-mile walk and are welcoming anybody else who would like to get involved to join us. We’ll also be looking to continue our fundraising throughout 2023, so we’ll keep you posted regarding other upcoming events.

Any donations will be gratefully received, and we’re looking forward to getting started and doing everything we can to continue to raise awareness about men’s mental health. If we can help prevent just one person from taking their own life, we’ll have achieved our goal.

Regards,

Deakz (Graham)