County Durham charity chief passes half-way mark in 900-mile run to every Premier League ground

Newcastle United supporter and charity chief Matthew Smith has reached the halfway point of a marathon challenge as the raises much-needed funds for North East-based suicide prevention charity If U Care Foundation.

Matthew began his challenge just under two weeks ago at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium and is making his way to St James Park, home of his beloved Magpies, via the other 18 Premier League clubs. The 900-mile run has taken him to the Midlands thus far, with the plan being for Matthew to reach Wolves on August 21, Liverpool and Everton on August 24, Manchester United and Manchester City on August 25 and then Newcastle on August 30.

The run is a poignant one for Matthew, who co-founded If U Care Share following the sad passing of brother Daniel in 2005, as football played a key role in his relationship with his elder sibling and continues to play a significant part of the foundation’s present and future.

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Finishing at the famous Gallowgate End will mean so much for his family and the community they have created through the foundation’s hard work over the last 13 years.

He told ChronicleLive: “I’ve been a Newcastle fan all of my life so finishing at St James Park is huge for me. My first game was with Dan and my Dad in 2002 and for me, for our community, our organisation and the If U Care Share family, to bring it back to the North East is so special.

“I want to highlight that we can come together through football to discuss something we don’t talk about very often and I want to give the North East a platform to show the significance of the impact suicide has.”

Smith’s fundraising target of £135,000 was set with that aim in mind after a recent report revealed a suicide affects an average of 135 people. Cuts to the charity's funding have put services under pressure, the charity has said.

Over the years, it has worked with more than 75,000 people.

“It’s a huge amount of money to target,” he explained as his fundraising total approaches the £30,000-mark.

“We wanted to do something for every single one of those 135 people and we decided the best thing to do was to try and keep people here, to stop them taking their lives and hopefully raising this money will help the foundation do that.

“My initial aim for the run was to help the charity take the next step and reaching more people in the North East, now it’s more about just being there for people we have to be there.”

Smith will received some much-needed support from Nuffield Newcastle over the coming days after they offered to provide rehabilitation and recovery sessions via their sites around the Midlands.

At a crucial point in his challenge, their backing will provide Smith with the support he requires as continues on his long run towards home.

He said: “Nuffield Health Newcastle have answered my call in terms of recovery and I’ll be getting massages throughout the Midlands. These have been seriously tough miles where my body has been and is going to be in a serious amount of strain even more than it is now and I’m very grateful for that.”

For more on Matthew’s challenge and to donate head to www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/teamh135.