As part of the England Athletics #RunAndTalk initiative, the club welcomes and invites anyone wishing to get involved in running to improve their mental health to come along on ANY Tuesday night. We meet at the back of the car park behind Waitrose at 6.30pm.

ANYONE can take part (you don’t have to be a member), it’s only a mile (further if you wish) and walking is allowed! Just turn up in a pair of trainers, shorts/leggings and a T-shirt or something similar. Just let us know you are coming by emailing us at buckinghamrunningclub@hotmail.co.uk and we’ll be ready to welcome you.

#RunAndTalk is supported by Mind, the mental health charity, and aims to improve mental health through running in England by:

• Getting people talking about mental health, sharing their experiences and removing stigma
• Providing support and guidance to raise awareness of mental health problems
• Supporting people experiencing mental health problems to be physically active through running, whether that is to support them in starting, returning to or continuing to run.

A network of volunteers – called Mental Health Champions – in England Athletics affiliated clubs and RunTogether groups has been set up to promote mental wellbeing through running and to support the aims of #RunAndTalk.

Our mental health champions

The Club has 7 Mental Health Champions (MHC) who are actively involved in supporting the initiative, organising events and generally promoting mental wellbeing through running. Each MHC will have lived experience of mental health issues, either personally or from a close relative or friend. Consequently they are well placed to encourage and promote conversations about mental health. However, they are NOT trained practitioners and are NOT able to provide individual or emergency support for people experiencing mental health problems or in a crisis, but they should be able to give such people information on where to get help and how to access it.

Our Mental Health Champions are:

Tony Allen; Teresa Gardiner; Jane Keig; Jane Smith; Darren Stanger; Chris Usher; Jamie Wheway

Club members are also welcome to seek support from these people whenever they need it.