Richard Cooper is founder of The Stable chain of pizza, pie and cider restaurants. He and his wife Nikki built up their restaurant business over the last ten years, and now have 17 restaurants – many of them in the South West.
A keen runner, Richard has found a challenging way to help people in Dorset who live with mental health problems – by running the 2017 London Marathon on 23rd April. It will be an immense achievement that very few of us can dream of achieving in our lifetime.
So what’s Richard’s reason for running 26.2 miles?
He explains “When someone is coping with mental illness there’s often not anything you can say to help them, so running the marathon is my way of feeling like I am doing something instead…”
Richard knows how scarce mental health services are in West Dorset. He wants to do something positive to help change that. “Mental health, with all its complexities, is one of the biggest challenges facing us all today. And here in the South West it’s massively under-funded, with services in rural areas like Dorset – love it as I do – being really tough for people to access.”
By running the notoriously tough race Richard hopes to raise a considerable amount for Dorset Mind. Not only this, Richard’s company The Stable has just made an exciting announcement – they have chosen Dorset Mind to be their CHARITY PARTNER!
Dorset Mind Patron and psychologist at Bournemouth University, Dr Andy Mayers, comments “We are truly grateful to Richard and The Stable for making us their Charity Partner. One of the biggest challenges for local charities is to secure funding. Richard’s entry in the London Marathon and the support of his company for the year will enable us to continue our work helping people with mental health problems across Dorset.”
“As you probably know, 1 in 4 people will experience a diagnosable mental health problem at some point in their lifetime. It’s well-known that running releases endorphins, that in turn benefits the participant’s mental health and wellbeing… So this is the perfect partnership – running alongside each other for the journey.”
“This is a very special year for us – not only do we have a milestone 70th birthday approaching in November, but we also plan to greatly expand our support groups and befriending service. All money raised will go towards helping support those in Dorset with mental health problems.”
LINKS
– Help encourage Richard as he undertakes his London Marathon
training by making a donation on his fundraising page here.
– You can also follow Richard’s journey on Facebook.
– For more information about The Stable Group
Pizza, Pie and Cider Bar and Restaurants, please see here.
