The countdown is on for Manish Patel from West Bromwich after he signed up to take part in this year's London Marathon.

Manish is currently hard at work training for the annual 26.2 mile race around the capital to raise money for local mental health charity, the Kaleidoscope Plus Group after the team supported him back in 2020 when he was struggling with his own mental health.

The West Bromwich-based charity helps thousands of people across the UK each year and offers a range of services for people in need, struggling with their emotional health and wellbeing.

After reaching out for support late one evening, Manish then followed a programme of counselling, that enabled him to move out of a dark place. Manish said:

“Counselling provided me with an open platform to speak about my feelings, in an environment where I didn’t feel judged at all.

“The support from the Kaleidoscope Plus Group was a real lifesaver as I was in a very dark place, and I was keeping everything bottled up within myself”.

The London marathon in April will be Manish’s twelfth marathon after taking up running back in 2015. Having previously completed the London event Manish feels there is unfinished business this time around as he is more determined than ever to hit his target of 3 hours and 45 minutes.

When asked why he is putting himself through a 12th gruelling marathon Manish added:

“Running really makes me happy. But most importantly I want to encourage others not to give up if they are struggling.

“There is still a stigma that surround mental health and seeking support. It was those stereotypes that held me back and stopped me reaching out in the past.

“But since I received the support from the team at Kaleidoscope Plus Group I haven’t looked back, I can’t thank them enough.”

Monica Shafaq, CEO at the Kaleidoscope Plus Group added:

“We are delighted to work together with Manish and can’t thank him enough for his support and I’m thrilled that the support he received has enabled him to be in a good place.

“All the money raised will go to services that provide crucial mental health support for those in need, like our counselling service.

“I can only thank Manish for advocating having those conversations around mental health, it is so important for us to help remove the stigma that surround mental health.”

Manish is certainly putting in the hard work to ensure he completes the course in his desired time and reach his £1,000 target often running in the early hours before heading off to work for Staffordshire Police.

If you’d like to support Manish and help him reach his £1,000 target, visit justgiving.com.