Ten marathons for ten days in aid of mental health for ex-Barney School pupil

A MAN who was inspired to become a mental health nurse after acting as a child carer to his mum aims to run ten marathons in ten days from Leeds to London for charity.
Former Barnard Castle School pupil Joe Faulkner will end his epic run by completing the London Marathon.
Mr Faulkner, a mental health manager, wants to raise £10,000 for mental health charity Rethink.
As an eight-year-old living in Woodland he had to care for his mum, Linda Faulkner, who suffers from schizoaffective disorder. The condition causes mood swings, hallucinations and delusions. His mum said: “I would get up at three in the morning and because I was up I would try and get Joseph out of bed.”
She added that she would sometimes have hallucinations and believe that someone was trying to take her son.
The 65-year-old said: “He had a lot to contend with for a child that age but he was able to stay stable.”
However, it was this experience that led Mr Faulkner to study as a mental health nurse at Leeds University, where he still lectures occasionally.
His mum has since been diagnosed with vascular dementia and admits that simple things like recent changes to Morrisons supermarket can leave her disorientated and distressed but she can continue to rely on her son who lives in Wakefield. She said: “He phones me every day to find out how I am doing. That part of him, the carer, he cannot lose. He cares and that is what his passion is.”
Mr Faulkner will begin his epic series of marathons in April and will be running the entire route without a support crew. The 31-year-old said: “The goal is to hopefully raise money to be used to help pay for mental health first aid and awareness training which will be delivered to teams, groups, companies and organisations.
“From this, I hope for further training to be arranged and for awareness training to be seen as must have for all.
“I also hope for this challenge to continue to raise the conversations around mental health and mental health stigma. No one should feel that they are not being valued, treated with respect or supported due to having difficulties with their mental health at any time in their lives.”
So far Mr Faulkner has raised £906 for Rethink. To contribute visit just
giving.com/fundraising/JoeFL2L
His mum and dad Stephen Briggs said: “We are very, very proud. He has had a hard life.”