Wigton lady to climb Skiddaw for suicide charity

“Hillwalking was one of Jason’s hobbies,” explains Maria, “so this seems a fitting thing to do. We lost my beautiful brother to suicide in April 2021 and I’ve set myself the challenge of raising £1,000 to support Suicide Bereavement Support (SBS) Cumbria.”

“I'm raising funds for SBS as they're an amazing charity which helps anyone who has lost someone by suicide. Everyone in the group is friendly and you’re made to feel so welcomed. To be honest, I'm normally a strong person but SBS volunteers are helping me as talking to people who are going through the same thing is helping me get through this devastating situation.”

CLIMB: Maria is hoping to raise £1,000 to support Suicide Bereavement Support Cumbria

“Jason was loved by everyone in his family and had lots of friends - he was the soul of the party. We moved to Wigton when we were teenagers. Jason was a very hard worker who was employed by D.A. Harrison at Silloth and he made a lot of friends there too. We were very close siblings and he was always at my house but a few months before he died, he started to distance himself from his family.

“I was always there if he ever needed to talk to me and quite a few times he did but he also kept a lot to himself. He is missed by everyone and he will never be forgotten. On April 17 last year, our lives were turned upside down and our hearts torn into two. We're all absolutely devastated by losing Jason so tragically and finding it very hard to come to terms with it. Doing the walk in memory of Jason and one year on is going to be very emotional but I know my brother will be looking down on us when we do it and it seems fitting to raise money to support SBS too.”

Maria hopes to climb Skiddaw on Saturday, April 16 from Millbeck. She has a Go Fund Me fundraising page online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-my-brother-jason and a target of £1,000.

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