This Sunday, Darron Cavanagh, chief operating officer at The VPS Group, and Lee Newman, their CEO, will climb onto their saddles and start pedaling on their five-day cycling marathon around the UK to the Group’s main offices. From London to Manchester, via Norwich, they are hoping to raise £50,000 for Samaritans and other mental health initiatives.

This week they achieved the half-way stage with £25,000 already donated by friends, colleagues, suppliers and the general public. (to help them reach the finishing line with whatever can be spared visit the JustGiving page for donations here – justgiving.com/crowdfunding/vpscharitybikeride2021)

“We’re incredibly grateful for all the support we’ve received to date.” says Darron. “When it looked like we were coming out of the first lockdown last year, myself and Lee discussed the idea of doing something to raise money for charity. Lockdowns have been particularly tough for people’s mental health, so we decided on a bike ride to raise money for Samaritans and other campaigns to support mental health and wellbeing.”

In the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 and young people aged 20-34. Within the construction, security, and facilities management sectors, three of the key sectors the VPS Group work in, there are some of the highest risk occupations susceptible to stress.

Darron adds: “This week is Mental Health Awareness week, so it is a good moment to encourage people to support others, to talk to others, and shift the stigma away.”

The VPS Group, Europe’s leading temporary security specialists, have made mental health initiatives their top priority in 2021.

“Being able to invest in a programme that helps people and raises awareness is really exciting.” says Lee Newman, Group CEO. “My wife Sophie is a Samaritan and the number of people that ring through to Samaritans every day is astonishing. There is a call every seven seconds. Anything we can do to help that organisation, and ultimately help the mental health of our nation, has to be a good thing.”

A number of guest cyclists, including Paul Lewis, subsidiary company Evander’s Managing Director, will be joining the cycling duo to ride sections of the route in support of the group’s fundraising efforts.