Wootton barber raises thousands with 24-hour mental health walk at RSPB Lodge

A barber proved his stamina was a cut above the rest as he completed a mega 24-hour charity walk around Sandy's RSPB Lodge.

Ricky Cataldo completed his mission during the heatwave on July 19 to raise money for the mental health charity, MIND – despite suffering from heat stroke.

Ricky with his partner, Phoebe, during the charity challenge. Image supplied by: Ricky Cataldo.

placeholder image — Ricky with his partner, Phoebe, during the charity challenge. Image supplied by: Ricky Cataldo.

So far he has raised around £4,800 – and there is still time for you to donate here and support the cause.

Ricky said: "The walk started at 7am prompt and began well – and continued to go well until the late afternoon where I developed a little bit of heat stroke.

"This took the wind out of my sails a touch and slowed me down for a while. But as the night drew in and I cooled off, I managed to pick up the pace up again and stopped feeling sick, so managed to get some more food in."

Ricky, who lives with his partner Phoebe in Sandy, had also invited people to step into action and join him for a lap or two.

He added: "The highlight for me was just getting laps in throughout the day with different friends and family members, having a good chat about what I was actually pushing to do at the time, and the money we had managed to raise.

"The current total to just under £4,800."

Ricky, who works at Diman Barbers in Wootton, wanted to help MIND because he has previously faced his own battles with mental health – and has "lost multiple friends and family members to mental health issues".

And this ambition kept him going along the way despite the soaring heat.

He added: "The biggest challenge was when the heatstroke caught me out. I was incredibly nauseous and just couldn't cool down or bring myself to eat or drink.

"But once we got through that I just kept pushing on managing to complete just over 100km in 24 hours."

He said: "Thank you to all the amazing local businesses that went out of their way to support the cause and to my amazing partner, Phoebe, who helped to prepare all my food and drink, and stayed the full 24 hours with me."

They included JL Oil and Heating, LP Soft Tissue, Diman Barbers, L&P Elite Roofing, P&R Aquatics, Sub Zero Air Conditioning, Amor Cookies, Solace Pilates, Smiths Drylining, DW Renovations, ARC helping hand, The D-sign Hub, Peg and Rose, Shield LTD, DW Renovations, Aureum insurance, and O'Neil Plumbing and Heating.

MIND campaigns to improve services, challenge stigma, and "make mental health a priority". It also provides life saving information, support, and advice. Click here to find out more.