The South North Journey: A Celebration of Younger Folks’s Resilience

That is the story of 4 males in a ship and a tandem rickshaw…after which one other boat! Of an iconic, world first problem…on residence soil.

Overlook Land’s Finish to John O’Groats! The southernmost level of the British Isles is definitely the islands of Les Minquiers, south of Jersey, simply off the French coast, whereas the northernmost level is Out Stack, a rocky outpost off the northern tip of Shetland. A journey of round 1200 miles.

One among us (Kevin), psychologist and bestselling writer, realized again in 2021 that not solely had no-one undertaken this journey, however no-one had even considered it. Intrigued, he set about persuading a trio of like-minded individuals to hitch him on this epic quest. Billy Taylor, an skilled ocean rower, jumped in and agreed to skipper the rowing sections. An ex-paramedic and fireman, Billy has developed a ardour for ocean rowing and has now crossed most of the world’s oceans beneath his personal steam.

They are going to be joined within the journey by Patrick Neale, who, together with his accomplice, Polly, runs, Jaffe & Neale, an impartial bookshop in Chipping Norton. Having lately stopped taking part in rugby within the native membership, Patrick jumped on the likelihood to hitch Kevin and the boys on the South North Journey, particularly as he’s enthusiastic about encouraging kids and younb individuals to learn.

The ultimate member of the crew is Gary Hutchings. Gary hails from north Devon, the place he runs his personal enterprise, and can be a extremely completed ocean rower and adventurer.

Kevin lastly managed to influence his spouse, Elaine, additionally a psychologist and psychological well being researcher, to assist set up this epic journey – his biggest accomplishment of all! We’re each enthusiastic about making this journey a competition of younger individuals’s resilience and psychological well being and purpose to develop a novel analysis challenge primarily based on what younger individuals, themselves, should say. It’s all about listening to their goals, their concepts, their goals. We need to carry the lived expertise of the nation’s youth into the center of the analysis course of and couldn’t consider a greater accomplice than MQ – The Psychological Well being Analysis Charity to carry this to fruition. Extra on that later.

The crew will begin by rowing about 300 miles from Les Minquiers to Portsmouth, through Jersey, after which from Scrabster, within the north of Scotland, to Out Stack. Within the interim, they’ll cycle round 900 miles on land on their custom-made tandem rickshaw from Portsmouth Harbour to Scrabster.

We reached out to 10 fantastic charity companions (https://givestar.io/gs/south-north-adventures-supports-youth-mental-health) who agreed to work with the crew. The concept is that Kevin and the boys will chat to younger individuals at our 10 charity ‘meet and greets’ all through the nation to debate what they assume psychological well being researchers needs to be investigating. We’ll then put together a analysis proposal after the journey and purpose to pursue these questions in a scientifically legitimate examine. We hope that the nation will get behind the crew on this epic journey and celebration of younger individuals’s resilience.

All of our charity companions are concerned with supporting younger individuals in a method or one other. In Jersey, the crew will meet individuals from Each Baby Our Future who this 12 months are highlighting the significance of studying books and tales for psychological well being and creating resilience. On the same theme, the 1851 Belief whom they’ll meet in Portsmouth emphasize the position of training and demanding considering abilities in giving younger individuals a step up in life. Then it’s off to London on the tandem-rickshaw the place they’ll converse with younger individuals from Ladies in Sport in regards to the position of sport and bodily exercise in constructing confidence and resilience in younger women; the Massive Child Basis can be ready in Brixton to debate the affect of knife crime amongst younger individuals and the way we’d be capable of cut back it. Their patron, chef Michel Roux, will current the crew with a frozen boeuf bourguignon to be consumed once they full the journey. From Brixton, it’s off to Oxford, accompanied a part of the best way by Susie Dent, patron of Information Canine, who will cycle alongside the crew and introduce them to younger visually impaired individuals the place they’ll focus on methods they cope with this sort of adversity. It’s then on to Sheffield the place the crew plan to reach in the course of the World Snooker Championship the place a number of main gamers will introduce them to their chosen charity Jessie Might, who’re supporting finish of life take care of younger individuals dealing with terminal sickness. Kevin will interview younger individuals and their households about how they deal with this worst of adversities. The crew will then head to the small Yorkshire village of Bramhope the place they’ve been promised a cream tea by the triathete Brownlee brothers and a go to to the Brownlee Basis who’re additionally utilizing bodily exercise and sport to construct resilience in younger individuals. Alongside the best way, the crew can be accompanied by Bikeability and Heavy Metallic Truants who concentrate on biking and bodily exercise to spice up wellbeing.

In all conferences, alongside the size of the nation Kevin and the crew will hearken to kids and younger individuals and ask them what they imagine needs to be the main target of psychological well being analysis to construct their resilience and shield in opposition to the onset of psychological well being issues. We will’t wait to listen to their concepts, and which of them might be become a legitimate analysis challenge. The crew will then converse with some main researchers and youth ambassadors from MQ of their closing ‘meet and greet’ in Edinburgh. They may focus on these concepts and contemplate how we’d go about organising a co-produced analysis challenge primarily based on all of those interviews and discussions – a very novel means of bringing the lived expertise of youngsters to the center of the analysis course of. This is among the explanation why MQ is among the trusted companions of the south north crew.