To begin this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, the Split Perspectivz team launched
their long-awaited Peggy the Pedalo challenge in support of the Boat of Hope child mental
health campaign. The Boat of Hope campaign seeks to open up conversations with our
young people and normalise feelings. All funds collected benefit the Samaritans and Love
Rowing charities. (See WWW.BOATOFHOPE.COM for more info on the wider campaign)
Sponsored by Split Perspectivz CIC, the two-day event welcomed 150 representatives of key
organisations across Merseyside including schools, universities, media, corporate, all united
behind one common goal, to raise funds and awareness via walking and talking.
The event used a brand-new app called Welba to record physical activity during the day, all
data going onto a live leaderboard.
The day began with speeches by the team, Bernie Hollywood OBE and the Lord Mayor of
Liverpool, Mary Rasmussen, followed by sea shanties and song by the SINGME Merseyside
choir led by Billy Hui BEM.
The group walked a 4-mile round trip to Thornton Hough Village Hall, where they met the
Mayor and Mayoress of Wirral, George and Catherine, and were treated to tea and cake.
The boat was officially named and blessed by both local mayors before the Boat of Hope
Ambassador, Natalie Reeves Billing began her 2-day jaunt, pedalling and sleeping on the
lake. Natalie gave out pedalo rides until the end of the day.
Natalie’s daughter, Ellie Rose contributed her ‘Loomband challenge’ to the event to help
raise further funds. Ellie, who is 8 years old, had constructed a 104-metre loomband which
stretched around the lake and raised a lot of spare change to support the fund-raising
activities.
The challenge ended with £2090 raised over 2 days and a team activity distance of 1, 400 km.
Well done, everyone involved. And thank you for supporting such an important cause.
Link to press:
https://growthplatform.org/news/2022/05/award-winning-liverpool-author-embarks-on-
48-hour-pedalo-challenge-for-national-mental-health-awareness-week/
(Photos attached)