A father and son passed through Dawlish, Teignmouth and Shaldon on Thursday (September 4) as part of a four-day fundraising hike for mental health awareness.

Eight-year-old Jake Chapman and his dad, Chris, have been passing a rugby ball between them as they have walked from the Exeter Chiefs Sandy Park Stadium to their home ground in Brixham in aid of mental health charity LooseHeadz.

Chris was inspired to do the walk after going through his own mental health struggles and then helping his son negotiate a really tough year at his old school.

Being out and passing a rugby ball between us really helped Jake open up, Chris explained.

Chris knows, first-hand, how important talking is in helping overcome mental health struggles.

The death of a close friend to suicide brought back a lot of unresolved trauma from his childhood when he lost both parents and his brother to a house fire.

‘I got very good at being fake around my wife and kids, pretending I was fine: fake smile, fake laugh. I would spend most days smiling and pretending I was OK around everyone. But when I was alone in my van, I would just cry to myself and then go back to being fake afterwards,’ he recalled.

Chris slowly started opening up to his wife and his recovery accelerated after he got involved in sports; coaching his daughter at football and his son at rugby.

Talking to my wife and just finding the love for sport again helped me massively and I started to love life again and haven’t had to be fake for a few years now and hopefully never will.

Seeing the difference in Jake as he opened up about his struggles at school underlined how important talking is. ‘Talking didn’t just help Jake, but it helped us as parents to understand how he was truly feeling,’ Chris explained. Jake has now moved schools and has settled in and made some amazing new friends.

After overcoming these challenges, Chris wanted to do something for a mental health charity.

The son of Chris’ friend who died by suicide is excelling at a rugby club in Cornwall and Jake loves rugby and has played since he was two.

So, LooseHeadz, the rugby charity that raises awareness of mental health, was a perfect fit.

Chris and Jake are spending around spend 5-6 hours a day walking and talking as they pass a rugby ball to each other over the four-day challenge from Exeter, along the coast through Dawlish, Teignmouth and Shaldon to Torquay and finally finishing at Brixham Rugby Club.

‘If our story helps anyone that would be amazing, just so people start talking over a coffee or find an activity that helps them open up about how they are feeling,’ Chris concluded.

The father son duo hope to raise £1,500 from their walk and talk. Donations can be made via Chris’ JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/christopher-chapman-10