A charity event promoting the benefits of exercise for mental health is taking place at Preston Docks.

The Mental Health Marathon is being organised by the Preston Community Mental Health Team, which is made up of colleagues from the NHS and Lancashire County Council.

The colleagues – plus their friends and families – will walk or run laps of the Docks to raise money for SEED/Breathe and St Catherine’s Hospice.

Co-organiser Hazel Atherton said: “If 18 participants do one lap each (1.46 miles), we could achieve the equivalent of a marathon (26.28 miles). If 18 people raise £55.55 each, then we can raise £1000 for those local worthy causes.”

Participants can do as many laps as they want and ‘lap counter’ volunteers will ensure they are included in the grand total.

Read more: Docks to Disney walk sees hundreds take part at Preston Docks

The Mental Health Marathon is taking place on Sunday 15 September between 8am and 6pm.

To donate to the fundraiser visit the Mental Health Marathon JustGiving page.

About the charities

SEED, which stands for Support and Education for Eating Disorders, offers a support network to sufferers of eating/food/weight related issues and their family and friends. Breathe is the treatment arm of SEED, providing a therapeutic research-based treatment programme for all types of eating distress.

St Catherine’s Hospice provides highly-specialised palliative and end-of-life care for the people of Chorley, Preston and South Ribble. The hospice helps people with all kinds of life-shortening conditions such as cancer, motor neurone disease and heart failure, to experience quality of life, to the end of life.

What do you think of the Mental Health Marathon? Let us know in the comments below.