Matt Campbell’s fundraising money to support resilience programme for schools

The untimely death of Matt Campbell, whilst running the London Marathon to support our work, led to a remarkable outpouring of emotion and donations to Brathay.

Matt and his father, Martin, cared deeply about supporting young people to grow up with the resilience to meet the challenges adulthood brings. Both saw the impact our programmes have on young people and their families, and volunteered their time to support this.

Part of Matt and Martin’s legacy is to provide young people with enhanced resilience at important times in their lives.

Following discussions with Matt’s family, we are excited to announce that the main use of the incredible £371,000 donated so far will be to support young people at risk of poor mental health, through 3.7 – a project working with secondary schools.

The project’s name is taken from the miles Matt had left to complete the London Marathon. The amazing public response saw thousands of people running that distance to ‘complete’ the marathon for him, and donating to his Justgiving page, which he set up to support Brathay. To date, almost 32,000 people have donated, worldwide.

3.7 aims to re-engage reluctant learners by providing an alternative curriculum for young people struggling with mainstream education as a result of low mental health and resilience.

This could include low self-esteem, anxiety and stress, poor relationships with peers and adults, or lack of engagement in positive activities.

With eight one-day sessions run away from school, and a weekend residential at one of our Lake District centres, 3.7 aims to increase the resilience of young people to support their successful transition through school and beyond.

With four strands available – Outdoor learning, Conservation, Healthy lifestyles and positive choices, and Creativity – each programme will focus on the specific needs of the group, with schools from Cumbria and beyond being invited to take advantage of 3.7’s benefits.

3.7 will be launched at a special event at Kirkbie Kendal School, Cumbria, on the 10th of October. The location has a particular significance for Matt’s family, as both he and his Brother, Josh, were students there.

The launch event will feature activities related to the four strands of the programme, and see Matt’s incredible legacy off to a fitting and celebratory start, as the funds donated in his name will allow us to work with many more young people to improve their well-being.

Click here for further information about the 3.7 programme.

If you want to talk to us about 3.7, please click here to email.