Greg Godley will be taking part in the 100-mile fundraiser Ride London this weekend to raise money to build a gym at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust’s (LPT) Stewart House – a rehabilitation inpatient unit providing care for patients who have severe and enduring mental illness.

What is special about Greg’s participation is that he is doing this in honour of his friend and fellow Manchester Triathlon Club member, Greg Strachey, who had planned to do this fundraising challenge but tragically died in March.

Greg Strachey’s sister, Sarah Holliehead, who is Head of Procurement at LPT, had introduced Greg to the work of Raising Health and Stewart House, and he was committed to cycling 100 miles at Ride London 2022, to raise funds to help patients on their road to recovery by building an on-site gym.

Sarah said:

“My brother was an amazing, driven, kind and motivated soul, so building a gym in his memory to help those people who really need it, would mean so much to me and my family. Greg was passionate about the transformative effect of exercise on mental health.”

“I am also now living Greg’s legacy. I have taken up open water swimming and I am training to climb the peaks (namely Mam Tor (where Greg’s accident happened), Kinder Scout and the Yorkshire Three Peaks), so I will continue to raise money for this cause via various challenges, until we have enough money to build the gym we so desperately need.

“Our family is incredibly grateful to Greg Godley and cannot thank him enough for continuing our Greg’s legacy.”

This fundraising initiative is on behalf of Raising Health – LPT’s charity, which raises vital funds to support the health and well-being of patients, staff and volunteers above that of core NHS funding.

Carolyn Pascoe, Fundraising Manager for Raising Health, said:

“We are extremely grateful to Greg for taking on this challenge and for the commitment Sarah’s family has given to build a legacy. We know that physical exercise has a direct impact on mental health and this gym will be an important part of the support we offer our mental health patients at Stewart House. Thank you for supporting Raising Health to provide these funds, we hope everyone will get behind this great cause.”

To find out more about Greg’s commitment to Raising Health and to donate, visit Greg’s Just Giving page here.