A WIGTON woman has successfully climbed one of England’s highest mountains, raising money for a suicide charity.
Maria Carruthers climbed Skiddaw on Easter Sunday with family and friends, in memory of her brother, Jason, who died exactly one year before the walk.
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Ms Carruthers explained: “Hillwalking was one of Jason’s hobbies, so it seemed a fitting thing to do.”
“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.”
“Jason was loved by everyone in his family and had lots of friends - he was the soul of the party. We were brought up in a village called Mealsgate and 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. 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 was emotional but I know he was looking down on us.”
John Brown, Chairman of SBS Cumbria said: “One of our main expenses is publicity as it is essential that people across Cumbria and the surrounding area are aware of the help that’s available. We’re very grateful indeed to Maria for her willingness to speak about her brother and her support for SBS.”
Maria climbed Skiddaw from Millbeck and has already raised over £1,000.
She has a Go Fund Me fundraising page online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-my-brother-jason that will stay open until the end of the month.
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