The brother of a young man from Holbrook who died tragically last year is turning his loss into a force for good by cycling 1,000 miles to raise money and awareness in his honour.
Archie Hall, 20, fell to his death from the Orwell Bridge in November after experiencing mental health difficulties and struggling to get the right support.
At the end of this month his brother Sam Hall, 24, will take on a solo mission of cycling from Cherbourg in northern France to Santander on the north coast of Spain in a bid to raise £2,000 for mental health charity Mind.
He hopes his fundraising can help others, like Archie, to find the right support and prevent another family going through what his are living with now.
Sam said: “Last November my brother Archie jumped off the Orwell Bridge and none of us saw it coming at all.
“Since then it’s opened up a whole new world in the community around us, suddenly being aware of really how important people’s mental health is.
“Archie went through a range of different professionals, even actually the day before he died he went to hospital and they sent him away saying if you feel bad call this number.
“He had help at university, college, councillors, hospitals, and none of them thought it was that serious. There’s not the help out there, or it’s not in the right place or there’s something wrong with it. I want to raise awareness and money so they have the means of doing a better job.”
On the day of Archie’s death he had returned home to Holbrook from his university in Lincoln because of continuing fears over his mental health.
Similar problems had forced Archie, who also leaves behind 18-year-old sister Isobel, to cut short his time at his previous university in Exeter.
Sam, who works as a theatre technician, said he hoped the money he raises could be used by the charity to train more employees with the skills to answer the phone to people in crisis and talk them out of possibly ending their life.
Describing his little brother, Sam said: “He was extremely sociable, when put in any situation his main goal was to make new friends.
“He was always up for a laugh, a bit of Jack the lad. He liked to get up to trouble and he was a very fun person to be around - that’s why it made it harder for people to see serious problems behind the eyes.”
Sam is aiming to complete the journey in 23 days, with three days of cycling followed by one day of rest.
Half-way through he will be joined by his girlfriend Tami Fahrmann who plans to drive alongside him for the final stretch.
In April, Archie’s mother Laura Hall joined forces with the Ipswich Star and East Anglian Daily Times to launch a campaign calling for additional safety measures to be put in place on the Orwell Bridge to restrict pedestrian access and prevent further deaths.
A conclusion of death by misadventure was recorded at Archie’s inquest because assistant coroner for Suffolk, Nigel Parsley, said he could not make a suicide ruling because he was not certain Archie intended his actions to result in his death.
Mr Parsley also said he was so concerned about fatalities from the bridge he would use his power as a coroner to encourage the relevant authorities to take action.
In less than two weeks Sam has already raised more than £1,100 for Mind.
To donate, visit: www.virginmoneygiving.com/samscycle
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