Sheffield Uni’s History Society to hike for mental health

The History Society at Sheffield Uni are about to take part in a 13 mile charity hike to raise money for mental illness in the local area.

The hike will take place on 1 November in the beautiful Peak District as part of Sheffield RAG's Spiderwalk, with all proceeds raised going to local charity, Sheffield Mind.

Sheffield Mind are an independent charity and have been dedicated to improving mental health and fulfilling healthy lives for the past 47 years.

The charity provide a wide range of services in their attempt to support and improve the health of local residents. Just some of these amazing services include counselling and psychotherapy, emotional and practical support for families with serving personnel, as well as a recovery service which offers tailed help to increase confidence and combat anxiety, depression or other mental health issues.

Rachel, the Charity Sec in the society who organised the fundraiser, told The Tab: "I wanted to choose charities which were directly helping people nearby and where you can see their impacts. A few of my family members have suffered with mental illness in the past so the charity also tackles issues personal to me".

As well as Sheffield Mind, the History Society have also done fantastic work to raise money for Sheffield Assist, a charity which looks to support vulnerable people in Sheffield who have been unsuccessful in their applications for asylum.

"I chose Sheffield Assist because of everything that's happened in the news over the past few years", Rachel continued. "I feel like the work they do is so important for people who must feel so hopeless".

The hike is predicted to raise a few hundred for Sheffield Mind, with each hiker expected to raise a minimum of £30 of which many have already doubled.

The hike is just one of several events the History Society are planning to do over the coming year.

The society will give some of the profits raised from this year's Winter formal to both charities, too, which proved to be a successful fundraiser last Christmas as well.

A charity quiz at Revolution was also hosted in the past few weeks, with the society managing to raise around £50 for the respective organisations. There are even plans to field a charity rounders match when the weather starts to get a bit warmer.

Henry Spooner, the President of History Society, said: "I think the Spiderwalk is a fantastic idea and is something a bit different from the usual events we've hosted. We wanted to get involved because we believe that we should help those less fortunate than ourselves.

"We are in a privileged position as one of the biggest societies at the University to make a difference. We're looking forward to a fun and challenging evening and hopefully we can be the group to raise the most money!"

If you want to support the History Society and donate to Sheffield Mind, then please head over to their fundraising page here.

For a better insight into Sheffield Raising and Giving, please visit their website here.

If you'd like to know more about these amazing charities and what they look to achieve, please visit the Sheffield Mind and Sheffield Assist websites for further information.