Dad of late York student Tim Jones to run in 10th marathon

Simon Jones' son Tim was a student at Askham Bryan College and a promising horse rider at Micky Hammond’s Middleham yard when he died in 2019, aged just 17.

Simon, of Ripon, pledged afterwards to try to help Racing Welfare get a trained mental health first aider in every stable yard in the country.

He said then that he understood young people were reluctant to talk about their problems, and the only sign that something might have been wrong with Tim was that he had been unusually irritable and short-tempered.

He felt that mental health first aiders in stable yards might pick up such problems and provide help.

Since then, he has raised more than £25,000 in support of Racing Welfare’s Mental Health First Aid courses, partly through taking on seven marathons in a year, including London last month.

The father of a York student and promising horse rider who took his own life is to run in the New York Marathon to try to prevent further such tragedies (Image: Simon Jones)

Simon said: “More than three years on from losing Tim, I’ve not lost sight of the ultimate goal which is to have a trained Mental Health First Aider in every workplace in the horseracing industry. 

"It’s amazing knowing that more than 500 people have received mental health training, and almost 250 are now qualified mental health first aiders, since I began my fundraising just two and a half years ago, but we know there is more to do. 

“This year I set out on my multiple marathon challenge to build on the fundraising I’d done since Tim’s death, to fund access to even more training places.

"By the time I get to New York, I’ll have covered 1,500 miles in training, burnt 160,000 calories and taken over 3.6million steps!

“I’m really looking forward to taking part in such an iconic marathon. I’m driven by the success we’ve had so far with this training programme, and the thought that we could well have saved a life or two by getting so many mental health first aiders in place in racing’s workplaces.”

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Hayley Clements, secretary at Micky Hammond Racing, who completed such a first aid course in the months after Tim’s death, said: "I found the training very informative and helpful, enabling me to identify when work colleagues are acting differently and how to approach and ask the right questions or just to listen so they feel reassured and at ease."

A Racing Welfare spokesperson said that with one in four people affected by mental health problems, the horseracing industry must embrace and embed mental health awareness into its working culture 365 days of the year, adding: "Racing Welfare is working hard to achieve this through its programme of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England accredited training courses."

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