Male suicide awareness supported by Welsh businesses with charity triathlon
Welsh property professionals came out in force to support male suicide awareness. This year's Welsh triathlon saw more than 150 people from across the country swapped suits for swimming goggles, cycle shorts and running shoes to raise over £12,000 to tackle male suicide. 
Now in its fifth year, the event, organised by family firm Jehu Group, took place in aid of male suicide prevention charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
Jehu has chosen to support the charity following the loss of a respected and popular co-worker in July of 2016. Suicide is the leading cause of death for men aged 20 to 49 across the UK and the £12,000 raised will be a great boost for the charity.
The event that involved a 500m pool swim, 20k bike ride and 5k run saw staff from the Jehu Group and Waterstone Homes, don their sports gear in aid of this fabulous cause. They were joined by many of their clients including Principality Building Society, Berry Smith and Coastal Housing Group.
Anna Jones, Fundraising Director at CALM, said: “We are extremely proud and thankful that Jehu Group have selected CALM as its charity of the year and will help us to raise awareness of the fact that suicide is single biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK. It was great to see such a fantastic turnout today and the money raised will help make a difference to the lives of men who need support.”
This year’s event, hosted at Pencoed Pool and Rugby Club in Bridgend, included individual competitors as well as teams of three, with separate members swimming, cycling and running.
Lydia Jones of Working Word, is one of the people who chose to #BuddyUp for the triathlon, keen to help raise awareness for the charity after losing a close friend to suicide herself, the actor and singer Dafydd Dafis, in April this year.
Lydia said: “Dafydd sadly suffered with depression most of his life, and it breaks my heart on a daily basis that I’ve lost him, so I was very keen to join Jehu’s triathlon and help raise awareness for CALM’s good work and its helpline.”
Managing Director of Development at Jehu Group, Simon Jehu, said: “It’s truly humbling to see our triathlon continue to grow and this year has been our biggest event to date. We are thankful to everyone that has shown their support for CALM, both those who took part in the race and those behind the scenes making valuable donations.
“As a family company, we have always tried to support charities that have a connection to our company in one way or another. Following the tragic loss of a colleague last year to suicide, for us, there was no question in supporting CALM as our charity of the year. As we have seen first-hand, suicide can affect anyone, and so it’s important to us that we can do all we can to support CALM in improving its services, raise awareness and promote understanding of the issues surrounding male suicide.
“The money we have raised is a real reflection of the hard work, dedication and generosity of people working across Wales’ property sector.”
You can support the cause by donating here: http://www.virginmoneygiving.
CALM’s helpline is 0800 585858 with webchat available on www.thecalmzone.net
