Five workmates have completed a ’Walk the talk for mental health’ walking challenge to raise funds for charity Mental Health UK.

Dan Stevenson, from Braddan, Richard Lyons, from Onchan, Charlotte Mitchell, from Douglas, Claire McNeill, from Castletown and Callum Burke, from Ramsey took on the challenge of undertaking a 5km, 10km, 15km and finally a 20km walk.

They raised a total of £1,000 for the charity.

As the group’s Lloyds Bank workplace, the Peveril Building, is around 21km (13 miles) from Peel Marina they chose this as the route for the final walk, which took a little over four hours to complete.

Dan Stevenson said: ’I decided to take part in this walking challenge event for Mental Health UK because it’s a way for colleagues to connect, to challenge themselves and to recognise the importance of talking about mental health for our own wellbeing and to support others.

’It’s great to know that the money we raised will make a difference to people suffering with mental health (issues).’

Charlotte Mitchell told us that the highlights of the walk included ’Getting the opportunity to explore the beautiful Manx countryside and spend time with our colleagues outside of the confines of the office.

’Also, exercise is fantastic for our mental wellbeing, so the activity was the perfect way to raise the profile of this particular charity and made us feel great at the same time.’

She noted that the charity’s cause of mental health support is especially important during the pandemic, explaining: ’The isolation of lockdown hit some people really hard and made a lot of us realise how important it is to take care of our mental wellbeing every day so that we are more resilient and better able to cope when times get challenging.’