AN OSWESTRY barber who took up running in memory of his mum and to help his own mental health has raised more than £1,000 during 2022 by taking part in 10k races.

Tom Young, 30 has raised £1,420 for the mental health charity Mind in memory of his mum Rachel, who died from suicide in 2019.

The barber ran nine races in all, with eight 10k runs and one half-marathon on the famous Grand National race course at Aintree in Liverpool.

His last efforts came on home turf in October, when he completed the Oswestry 10k and says that the route was lined with emotional memories of the time spent with his mum.

He said: "The Oswestry 10k was very emotional because I ran past the house where I lived with mum, and now live with my own son, and past the barber shop where we worked together.

"I ran past the church yard where her tablet marking her burial is.

"My dad Mark, mum's sister and my family were all on the finishing line when I completed it, which was brilliant.

"It makes me very proud to have raised some of this money on the streets that mum grew up on."

Tom's 'Run for Mum' challenge lasted from February to October this year, taking part in races from Oswestry to Shrewsbury, to Chester and Liverpool and back to his home town.

Now a committed runner – even running around Lake Vyrnwy for fun on his 30th birthday – Tom says he has been running in his mum's memory, and for his own mental health, which he said was low after her death and that he also benefitted from counselling with UNI in Oswestry.

He added: "I'm very proud of myself for doing it – when you look back, setting this challenge and completing, it feels really good.

"My driving motivation was always that I was running in her memory.

He continued: "Over the past few years I've experienced what I think to be some extreme personal situations which resulted in me having some very dark moments

"I'm much better than I was but still have to work hard to keep on top of things.

"I've learned techniques which help me if I'm feeling anxious or depressed, I've also learned a lot about myself.

"The running was about raising money and mental health awareness in memory of Mum, but an underlying reason was for me.

"It gave me focus, gave me a goal to achieve and gave me a sense of self worth in the hardest time I've ever experienced.

"I've run every step of training and races (1,141km) completely solo and lost just under three stone in the process."