CW: depression, s**cide
Tell us about yourself - who are you and what do you love doing?
My name is Be, I am a climber, climbing coach and co-director of Volume 1 Climbing Wall. Funnily
enough I love climbing but I also really enjoy cycling, running, surfing and snowboarding as well as
spending time with my fiancé, family and friends.
Give us three words that you identify with most?
Love, climbing and happiness.
What brings you the most joy outdoors?
Just being outside brings me joy - I love the fresh air, the views and being in the elements no
matter what they are.
What has been your biggest challenge to date?
Physically one of my greatest challenges was coming back from surgery on my spine after bursting
a disk in my lower back. It was both the best and worst experience of my life as I learnt so much
from the process and came back stronger and far more knowledgable after the rehab process.
In order to succeed you must fail.
If you could share a core value or abiding principle with others, what would it be?
“Be gentle and be kind because you never know what’s going on inside another’s mind.” This is a
quote I wrote for the charity I founded called Climbing Out of Depression.
Tell us one small change we can make as individuals to help our community?
I set up COOD soon after an incredible young lady named Katy took her own life after a long
battle with her mental health. I met Katy on one of my instructed bouldering trips to Font and
during this time she started dating my brother and soon became part of our family. We all miss
her dearly and she is the shining star of the charity - we want to honour her in our work as we
know this is what she would have done for others had she had the chance.
COOD is in its infancy and we are still fine tuning the processes but we aim to help get as
many people as possible who struggle with their mental health into climbing. We believe
climbing is a fantastic positive focus for the mind and joined with the fantastic social and
physical benefits can chance lives for the better. As soon as we are up and running free
sessions will be bookable from our website with a referral from your GP or another charity.