Best foot forward to raise funds for Mayor's charity
Oswestry's Mayor and Mayor, Councillor Jay Moore and Poppy King, when head to head to raise funds for charity.
The couple each held their own walk around Oswald's Trail which encircles Oswestry.
Those who joined either the Mayor or Mayoress's walk for all or part of the 13-mile trek, made a donation to the Mayor's charity appeal.
Councillor Moore is raising funds for mental health charities and good causes that help young people.
Among those who joined the mayor on his walk on Easter Saturday was the Borderland Rotary president Chris Bryan-Smith and Shropshire Deputy Lieutenant, Veronica Lilles.
Mr Bryan-Smith said: The mayor’s chosen cause for his mayoral year and beyond, a youth mental health initiative which helps to fill the gaps in national mental health schemes. There is little current facility to cater for this so Jay decided that, rather than channel all monies raised into one charity, he would set up a fund that can be directed when and where it is needed most."
“I have to admit that I didn’t do the whole walk but I hope that I made up for it by bringing a donation from Borderland Rotary and I really admire the work that Jay is doing with his mental health project and, of course, all those that walked the whole trail”.
The Team Mayoress event was held on March 26. She was joined by Wild Women Shropshire & North Wales while Team Mayor was joined by Oswestry’s Men Walking & Talking group.
Councillor Moore said: “As we all know, mental health and wellbeing is a massive issue. As a youth worker and teacher I have seen first hand the impact it has on our young people. An overwhelmed NHS and CAMHS system is simply unable to cater to the sheer volume of young people needing help. As such, I have elected to champion this cause as the mayoral charity for my civic year.”
“The phrase ‘shoulder to shoulder’ comes to mind with Men Walking and Talking. It is hard for people, I think particularly men, to express their feelings face-to-face,” he said.
“When you are walking, shoulder to shoulder, you can look ahead instead of at the person. It really can make a big difference.”
