To Paradise for Glenn

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By Richard Dixon

In memory of Glenn Dixon – To Paradise for Glenn Fundraising Walk
Supported by Her Grace, The Duchess of Northumberland

To-paradise-for-Glenn-pin - We are organising a 150 mile, 8 day, walk from Newcastle to Glasgow in August this year. This is in memory of our son, Glenn Dixon.

150 Miles in 8 Days

We are organising a 150 mile, 8 day, walk from Newcastle to Glasgow in August this year. This is in memory of our son, Glenn Dixon. He tragically took his own life in November 2018 whilst waiting for treatment for depression, which he ultimately never received.

We are raising money for 2 registered charities, Tyneside and Northumberland Mind and the Celtic FC Foundation. I am Glenn’s dad and along with his mam, Jill, and a close friend of Glenn’s, Phil Morrison, we are determined to help raise awareness of mental health issues as much as we possibly can. Glenn was the kindest person you could hope to meet. He would always go out of his way to help others that he met who were less fortunate than himself. He regularly gave away whatever small amount of cash he had on himself to those he met who appeared to be homeless or struggling. He’d even do this if it meant that he now had to walk to his destination as he’d just given his bus fare away!

Football and Friends

He obtained a history degree at Liverpool John Moores University. Yet, he struggled to find work when he returned to the North East. He ended up going in and out of zero hours contract type jobs, mainly providing social care for the elderly. This work suited Glenn from the point of view that he could give genuine care and attention to those who needed it. Yet, also greatly saddened him as each visit was only allocated a short time slot during his day. He felt he should be giving and doing so much more for all of them.

Glenn’s passion was football and in particular, Celtic FC. He loved to watch them play. However, for the last few years, he rarely managed to get to see them play live. He could not afford to travel to Glasgow. Instead, he would go and watch the football on the TV at The Tyneside Irish Centre, Newcastle amongst his many friends. One of these friends told us that when Glenn walked into the room almost everyone who was there would subconsciously shuffle across their seat to make room for him to sit at their table. It is for this reason that we are walking from the Tyneside Irish Centre, Newcastle to Celtic Park, Glasgow. Celtic Park has the nickname “Paradise” amongst Celtic fans. So, we, therefore, decided to call the event “To Paradise For Glenn.”

Caring About People and the Planet

Glenn was loved and respected by many, many people. Yet, one of the tragic things about depression is that you feel no one does actually care. More than 200 people attended the celebration of Glenn’s life. Some friends came back from Australia and China to be present. This was because Glenn had been so supportive of them during times in their lives when they felt alone or in need of help.

He was passionate about helping and standing up for the vulnerable and marginalised in society. Even to the point that he cared more about other people’s welfare than he did his own. I have attached a Glenn-memorial-booklet PDF copy of a memorial booklet produced by Glenn’s friends for the celebration of his life. This contains just a small number of the many, many tributes we received. And to give you a flavour of the person we are trying to honour.

In keeping with Glenn’s caring approach to others, he was also passionate about the planet. He believed it should be looked after properly, not mistreated and filled with waste products. Even though he had very little money he always sacrificed having treats for himself so he could buy Fairtrade items or naturally produced products. He would always pay a bit more in order to support the “little companies or individuals” who were trying to make a living or produce their goods ethically.

Physical VS Mental Issues

There is a huge push currently to show that mental health issues are just as relevant and important as what would be classed as “physical” injuries. And that it is okay to talk about such things. If you broke your arm you would be given treatment as a matter of course. Yet, if it is a mental health issue, you almost have to wait until you have “broken both your arms and both your legs” before you can be helped. Whilst everyone would accept that many other causes can pull on the public’s heartstrings. It is a plain, stark and shocking fact that suicide was the registered cause of death of 5,821 people in the UK in 2018 (Samaritan’s website). And our son, Glenn, was one of those.

I am not usually one for statistics, but as we go from Newcastle to Glasgow over the 8 days, an average every week of 111 people will take their own lives. That means, statistically, for almost every mile we walk someone will take their own life during the time that we are walking it.

We desperately want to raise awareness of this and work with Tyneside and Northumberland Mind to help them in the vital work they do in our county. Whilst they are affiliated to the national charity Mind, they receive no funding from them. They must raise all the money themselves that they need to continue to promote positive mental health and provide flexible, responsive and sustainable support services to those in the Tyneside and Northumberland area. We believe that if we can try and prevent even one other person from taking their life and get them to seek help, then this will be worth it.

Raise Awareness!

To Paradise For Glenn also has the wholehearted support of Her Grace, The Duchess of Northumberland. This is in our efforts to try to raise awareness of and funds for mental health issues.
We would be extremely grateful if you could help us with raising awareness. And we’d be grateful if you could publicise our events with a post on your Facebook page.

For more information, visit www.toparadiseforglenn.com or Facebook page To Paradise for Glenn.

We have also had a number of articles published in the North East press. This is in our efforts to try to end the stigma of suicide/depression/mental health issues.

morpethherald.co.uk
newsguardian.co.uk
celticfc.net