Jo Garvey represents Will Garvey Trust Foundation and carries the Baton Of Hope in Sheffield 28th June 2023
‘It was my great privilege to carry the Baton of Hope in Sheffield on Wednesday as part of the largest suicide prevention movement ever seen in the UK.
I don’t know Sheffield very well (despite having spent many weekends supporting Rose swimming at Ponds Forge) so I opted to walk close to Bramall Lane – it seemed an appropriate place given Will’s love of football .
I’d seen the baton before, it really is a beautiful thing, full of metaphorical meaning (the middle section represents those who hold us and support us, the top part is made up of a series a semi colons to show that our story isn’t over yet) but it was much heavier than I’d imagined. I walked three legs in all and it came to represent the weight of grief: Heavier than you think.
I was walking for Will. I wish he was still here. I wish we were watching him grow into the man he should have been.
I was walking for every young person who thinks that suicide is a viable option. I was walking to show that there is hope even when you think all hope is gone.
But I was also walking for every mum who’s lost her little boy or girl, who mourns every passing year that’s a year further away from the last hug, who dreams it’s all a bad dream but wakes every morning to the sickening realisation of the truth, who misses his kisses and is angry at the future that doesn’t include him.
I walk for all Mums and dads- we can keep living . There is hope and light even in this darkness.’
Jo Garvey
