A cricket lover has visited six county grounds in a day – including Trent Bridge – to help his bid to raise mental health awareness.

Richard Kirby, the son of a former Leicestershire captain David, started from his home in Middlesbrough and stopped off at Durham, Yorkshire and Derbyshire before arriving in Nottingham and finishing off his tour with trips to Leicestershire and Northamptonshire – a distance of just under 300 miles.

Richard has completed more than 100 challenges since starting his campaign in 2014 and plans to do several more before the end of the year, including a sky dive this summer.

Marcus Trescothick, Graeme Fowler, Michael Yardy and Sarah Taylor are just some of the well-known cricketers who have suffered mental health problems and have since worked with the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) to promote awareness among fellow players.

“The thinking behind what I’ve been doing is to show what you can achieve if you ask for help,” he said.

“The thinking behind what I’ve been doing is to show what you can achieve if you ask for help.” Richard Kirby

“I have done stand-up comedy, I have got in the ring with a pro boxer and I’ve taken part in a Boxing Day dip in the North Sea. Most of the challenges have involved me going to somebody and saying ‘please can you help’ in the same way that someone might have to ask for help with a mental health issue.

“I put stuff on social media and write blogs because I want to show that if you are struggling and you need to talk that it’s actually not a weakness, but a very brave to do.”

“It’s nice to come to Nottingham because it coincides with a book I’ve just had published about my first 100 challenges that was published by a Newark company, and it’s the first time I’ve ever visited the ground.”

Find out more by going to https://www.richardkirby.org/

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