Mark Carruthers interviews If U Care Share co-founder Matthew Smith just a few days before he starts his run from Bournemouth Vitality Stadium, via every Premier League stadium, to St James Park.
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00:00Hi, my name is Mark Crothers and I'm joined by a very special guest. It is If You Care Share
00:05co-founder Matthew Smith. Matthew is about to start something of an epic challenge to raise
00:10money for the Foundation. He will be running from Bournemouth's Vitality Stadium to Newcastle United
00:16St James' Park via every other Premier League stadium, a run of over 800 miles all to raise
00:24much-needed funds for the Foundation. Matthew, we will discuss why you're doing the challenge first.
00:31The Foundation's set up in awful circumstances but something that is providing
00:40a wonderful service of people in the darkest of times. Yeah, you did yourself an injustice
00:46because you're also one of our amazing ambassadors as well, Mark, so don't forget to say that.
00:50Yeah, so kind of the background to If You Care Share for anybody that doesn't know who
00:57we are. So we're a North East based charity offering support to people who are either
01:03affected by suicide or suicidal themselves, while also trying to educate people around the
01:10prevalence of suicide, trying to do early kind of education with young people in various settings.
01:15As you say, I'm one of the co-founders. The organisation was set up by myself and
01:23my family. The idea came very kind of early on in my life through, as you say, kind of
01:31horrendous circumstances. So back in 2005, I lost my older brother Dan to suicide. Dan was
01:4019 when he took his own life and we still don't really know why he made that decision kind of
01:46fast forward and now. What we very much realise is we weren't the only ones experiencing that
01:52back then and certainly not now. We wanted to talk about it, we wanted to try and make a
01:57difference and that's what we've been trying to do for nearly 20 years now in Dan's legacy.
02:05Just looking at the run, obviously gets underway on Monday at the Vitality Stadium,
02:10right down there on the south coast. We say this is to North East lads, so we can say right down
02:14there. There has been some issues in the last couple of weeks. Obviously, the run was in jeopardy
02:19at one point. Can you just explain the circumstances behind that and let us know that it is going ahead?
02:26Yeah, yeah. So we are going ahead. We're not going ahead in necessarily the circumstances
02:34we aim to. The context of the run and kind of why I'm doing the 20 Premier League stadiums,
02:41when we started as a charity, the original idea came from myself, my cousin and my younger brother
02:47and it was a wristband and we wanted to try and get Dan's memory on a wristband, came up with a
02:54slogan, If You Care, Share and we just wanted to raise a bit money for a charity, campaign for
02:58Samaritans and what we tried to do was reach young men. It was quite a prevalent issue.
03:05There you go.
03:06There you go, there you go. It was quite a prevalent issue within young men at the time,
03:11still is of course, and within the North East had some of the highest rates. How best to reach young
03:16men within the North East, football. Football was a huge part of Dan's life, our lives. So we sold
03:23the wristband at all the North East grounds and football almost gave If You Care, Share the
03:29platform to reach people and has played such a significant part throughout our journey as an
03:34organisation. We're very fortunate that we work in partnership with the Premier League, the Football
03:40League through the LFA and the WSL. So that was the reason for the football clubs. But obviously
03:47there's a long journey ahead. It's a significant amount of time, it's 25 days and the ambition is
03:55to raise £135,000, which is a huge amount of money. The reason for 135 is that 135 people
04:04on average are affected by one death by suicide or death to suicide. So we wanted to do something
04:11for every single one of the 135. Our opinion, the best thing to do is to try and keep people here
04:18and prevent them from taking their own lives. There are a lot of logistics involved with the
04:24run. There's a lot of places to stay and I'm trying to avoid any of the money that's raised
04:31kind of going towards hotels. We want to try and use the money to go towards saving lives.
04:38We were hopeful we were going to be supported in that and up until a couple of weeks ago,
04:44it felt like we were going to be there. But for various different reasons with various different
04:49kind of organisations, things have fallen through. We had a planning meeting on Monday
04:59and at the end of the meeting, one of the staff members said, how are you?
05:08And I stopped myself from crying, to be honest, because basically we were in at that point,
05:14we were £18,000 out from what we were hoping, from what people had pledged.
05:19Obviously £18,000 is a huge amount of money to then think, can we actually do this? Are we going
05:27to make up kind of the money to make sure that it's at least viable? We want the 135,
05:34but you want to make sure it's viable before you start. So on Monday, I put out kind of,
05:41we may not be going ahead with the run. If I'm honest, based on what's in, we shouldn't be
05:47starting. But the kindness and kind of what people have been reaching out with has just motivated
05:54me and us just to, we need to do this. And everything in my head is, we have to get to
06:01that 135k because we need that money at this moment in time, because a lot more people are
06:09reaching out to us and we have had some significant funding challenges, specifically around suicide
06:15prevention. So my original plan with this run was about the next step for the charity and how do we
06:23reach more people in the North East? Actually, right now, it's about being there for the people
06:28who we're trying to be there for at this moment in time. If we just quickly talk numbers, I mean,
06:33how many people have the charity supported so far since its inception? Is there any figures you can
06:39give us to give an idea of the impact the charity makes? Yeah, so we've worked with, we're heading
06:47towards 70,000 young people in terms of the education that we deliver and over 5,000 individuals
06:58who's either been affected or suicidal themselves. And, you know, when you try and
07:04quantify that into individuals and the difference that it makes, a lot of them, people that we've
07:09supported have been affected by suicide. If you have been affected by suicide, you're then three
07:14times more likely to be suicidal or make an attempt on your own life. So actually, what we set out as
07:21an organisation was to, or sorry, as a family, was, I always say, I always want to stop one person going
07:29through what we went through. To do that to one person is huge. To be able to do that to thousands
07:36through the amazing team and the amazing volunteers that we have is, yeah, we never anticipated we'd
07:45do this, but it's because of, it's because of how important of a subject it is. So if we quantify
07:51that and put it in the context of the run, that's around, what, 75,000, 76,000 people that you've,
07:58that the organisation has supported, have educated, which basically fills Old Trafford,
08:03the biggest primary ground you'll visit in the run. So that's a nice little tie-in. Just to give
08:08an idea of the run, because there are a few that I think you are running, and I use the word just
08:12here, you know, without intention, just running from the Vitality Stadium to St James' Park. It's
08:18not that. It is via every Premier League ground. So Bournemouth, Southampton, across to Brighton,
08:25into London. The kicker for you was in the Midlands, the four in the Midlands, then into
08:33the North West with the big clubs from Liverpool and Manchester, and then finishing at St James' Park.
08:40Yeah, a sizable challenge. Give us an idea of the support you've had from different
08:46organisations, from, I know there is a personal trainer that has done a lot for you in that sense,
08:52obviously to get you in shape for this. What support have you had and who from?
08:57Yeah, some of the businesses that have kind of jumped on board has been great. As you've
09:04already mentioned, Martin Newton and Elite Performance has been a significant, significant
09:09amount of help in terms of the training. We've had some significant donations from
09:16a few different organisations, Steve Morgan Foundation, Regen Group, Blooming, Martiden.
09:23We've got a van that they've kind of donated and wrapped for us. Home Group have also donated
09:29a support van for kind of shipping things back and forward. We're hopefully going to have some
09:36real good news in terms of physio and recovery from Nuffield Health as well. So, yeah, there has
09:42been some superb support and, you know, the kindness of some organisations has been brilliant.
09:53But there's still a long way to go. You know, I'm still, I've still got 120-oddk I need to raise.
10:00Football clubs, there's been some real kind of good buy-in from some of the clubs. There's some
10:04that we're kind of still trying to grow into and build up. And I think if anybody has any support
10:11they could offer with any of the clubs, you know, brilliant. If anybody can come to any part of the
10:16run, that's superb as well. I have posted kind of the rough route, but I am going to be posting
10:22every night the day before that run, I will be posting the exact route. I should say trying to
10:29plan something like this out just for the route. You know, there's probably going to be certain
10:34times where I am going to have to detour because of safety. You know, you try and look at the
10:39quickest route, but the quickest route will be running along the A1, which I certainly don't
10:44want to be doing. But yeah, I think like some of the support's been fantastic. I think
10:52the challenge has been trying to kind of organise so many things and trying to get kind of
11:00pledges over the line. And we've had some that haven't got over the line. And I understand that,
11:05I get it. It's, you know, we just keep moving forward. You know, I'm leaving tomorrow morning,
11:14my support team, the two lads are coming down on Sunday. We currently don't have anywhere to stay,
11:20which I'm laughing about now. Monday, I felt terrible, but I think I'm very,
11:27we will sort something, we will find something and we'll find somewhere to stay. You know,
11:31there's been so many messages and stuff. But in a weird sort of way, I think if it was just me,
11:38I would stay in the van. I feel worse for the two lads who have got to sit in the van all day.
11:44Because you know, they're giving their time purely just to listen to me twist about how far I'm
11:50running. And so I want to at least have them somewhere where they can rest their heads. So
11:56but yeah, I think one of the things I'd probably struggle with this week is I haven't actually
12:02thought about the challenge of the run. Yeah, I've thought about logistics. And, you know,
12:09is that a good thing? Maybe if I wasn't distracted with so many different things that I'm having to
12:15do. But, you know, it is what it is. And we'll do it. And I think what I'm most excited about is like,
12:24the time spent with people from various different communities, walks of life, because you know,
12:30this is a subject matter that, that when you talk about it, so many people want to talk about
12:37because they are affected. You know, how many how many conversations have we had kind of personally
12:42about this subject matter about mental health, but also, because of what we do in terms of trying
12:47to talk about it, people reaching out to us, because actually talking about this, it gives
12:53people the opportunity. So yeah, I've completely waffled there, Mark. But like, I am just, you know,
13:00I think that's what I can't wait to start. One, to stop worrying about logistics. But two, just to
13:08just to see people and talk about stories have have something in the back of my head that I want
13:13to do about the 135. Without giving too, I want to meet at least 135 people on the run. And so yeah,
13:22I'm just really looking forward to getting started. I think it's important we bring up the
13:27you're running gear that you're going to be wearing a very special t shirt. And just an idea
13:33of why it's so special. Yeah, so I think, you know, one of one of the things,
13:39knowing, knowing the difficult parts that there is going to be in on the run, because only the
13:46will be, where do you find that little bit of motivation, that little spark, and you know,
13:52having having a song on can help. But I think one of the most important things that we've
13:57always tried to do as an organization is keep the people that are no longer his
14:02memories alive. And, and, you know, it's on the wristband. It's what we've always tried to do. So
14:08the t shirt, and the main focus, the main kind of thing on the t shirt is names of loved ones
14:15that have been lost to suicide. We've got over 200 individuals, and from all walks of life,
14:22across the country. And, you know, Gary speed's name is on there. So he times names on there,
14:28my brother's names on and, you know, as I say, different walks of life. And I think
14:34when the going gets tough, looking down and being reminded of the why, and why I'm doing this is,
14:44is everything. And, you know, that's why it has to take center stage on the t shirt.
14:50And so yeah, so that so that's what I'll be wearing for the run. And it is available to
14:56purchase as well. And so for anybody who wanted to be part of a little bit of history for the
15:02charity, and you can you can, you can pre order that now. I think it'd be foolish not to mention,
15:10I mean, this will be the first time anyone's done this, I imagine. Yeah, so for this, for this route,
15:15this will be the first one that that has ever been done. I think one of the intentions of
15:21doing it so early in the season was that I wanted to try and coincide with the start of the season,
15:26but also be the first person to do this route. And good old Ipswich coming up, I think is confirmed
15:32that it probably is the first time because obviously, it's been a long, long time since
15:36they've seen the starry heights of top level football. And yeah, you know, I joke about the
15:42distance, but they're a great club. And I'm looking forward to going, I'm just not looking
15:46forward to the distance it adds on. But yeah, I'm, as far as I'm aware, I will be the first person
15:52that will be running the 24-25 season route. And I think to these 20 clubs in the order as well.
15:59And yeah, special to finish at St. James's Park as well.
16:05As a Newcastle United fan, we should bring that up. You're a Newcastle fan. So you know,
16:09the thought of finishing, you know, by the statues of Sir Bobby Robson, Jackie Milburn,
16:14Alan Shearer finishing at the Gallaudet, it's a special moment or will be a special moment.
16:19Yeah, yeah. And we've hopefully got some pretty exciting stuff planned with the club as well.
16:26But you know, as a fan, it's huge. But I think also, for me personally, and the
16:36the significance and the association I have for it with Dan, you know, my first ever game
16:44was with my dad, and Dan was Everton 6-2. And I was told, don't think it's going to happen like
16:50this every game, mind. And they were right. But I think for me, but also for kind of our community,
17:03our organisation, our family, and when I say family, I mean, if you care, share family,
17:08to be able to bring this back to the North East is so special. And, you know, I did often kind of
17:16get asked the question, why am I doing national? Because, you know, most of our work is in the
17:21North East. But I think what I want to highlight is, throughout various different communities
17:28across this country, we can come together through football to talk about a subject that we quite
17:34often don't talk about. But also, I want to put a platform for the North East nationally, of
17:41the significance and the impact that suicide has. And we all know that in the North East,
17:47or most of us know in the North East, but I don't think elsewhere, we necessarily know that. So I
17:52want to be able to talk about that as well.
17:56Just you can see on the ticker, going on the bottom of the screen here, if you do
18:00want to donate to If You Care, Share Foundation, and Matthew's challenge, you can do it at
18:06totalgiven.co.uk forward slash appeal forward slash team H 135. Details of If You Care, Share
18:13Foundation's website, Twitter and Facebook are there for more information on the services they
18:17provide. And there will be regular updates from Matthew on the run via National World's outlets.
18:25We are looking at supporting them throughout. Matthew, thanks for your time. Best of luck,
18:30safe journey down and look forward to chatting to you throughout the run. Thank you.