SCOTTISH Borders Council is hosting an evening event at Jedburgh Town Hall on Monday August 1 2022 to welcome John Gibson to Scotland as part of his One Man Walking, One Million Talking Walk.

In 2019 John’s son Cameron died by suicide. This was a life changing event for John and his family and he found himself struggling to cope, at one point making an attempt on his own life.

Since then he has found strength in walking and has set up The Canmore Trust which is raising funds to support suicide prevention work across Scotland, and in particular support for people bereaved by suicide.

He said: “I plan to walk the length of Great Britain from Land’s End to John O' Groats with the aim of starting a national conversation around suicide as I walk and talk the 1,200 miles across the length of the UK.

“In 2019, my son, Cameron, took his life without warning.

“I, along with Isobel my wife, and other kids Malcolm and Eilidh, were left reeling and feeling utterly helpless in the aftermath of this devastating event. Since then, walking has been a huge part of me finding my feet again.

“As we move forward as a family it has become clear that we want to shake up the horrific statistics that surround suicide in the UK and for me I know that walking is a huge part of that.

"As a family we have established a charity - The Canmore Trust (SC051511) - that addresses many of the shortcomings that we experienced in the aftercare for those bereaved by suicide.

Border Telegraph:

“We also hope to challenge the conventional "wisdom" that surrounds suicide while playing a significant role in positively influencing the statistics.

“In order to do this, I have set a target of raising £250,000 for The Canmore Trust.”

He will be at Murray's Bandstand in at 5pm and members of the public are invited to meet him there.

The reception will start at 6.30pm and John will be speaking at the event.