Page 8 - Deal Round Up November 2020

Cinque Ports Mental Health Advocat. Meet The Man Behind

The Walk The Mind Movement - Ollie Bowers

A supermarket worker once held at gunpoint in an armed robbery has attracted the sup-
port of 30,000 people after finding a way to deal with the trauma.
Ollie Bowers, 33, from Folkestone , has founded Walk the Mind - an online group that
encourages others to get out and about walking as a mental health therapy.
The father-of-four waited 15 years before seeking help
to tackle his demons, which he attributes to the at-
tempted robbery, when he was aged only 16.
As part of his cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT),
he realised the true benefits of walking on the mind,
prompting him to start the social media page in 2019.
During lock-down, membership soared into the tens of
thousands with people from 120 countries joining his
movement. About 7,000 of these members live in the
Folkestone and Dover districts.
Mr Bowers, who works at Lidl in Dover and is the Men-
tal Health Advocat of Cinque Ports Football Club based
at Marke Wood in Walmer, said: “Being held at gun-
point was the most terrifying moment of my life. It
took 15 years to get to absolute breaking point. Ollie and Ted walk every day and
“After many personal ups and downs, I was diagnosed share pictures of their outings
in 2019 with ‘emotional detachment disorder’ which is with members on the page
related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
“I started walking my puppy Ted, who at the time was only a few months old in Febru-
ary 2019, and alongside
my therapy I started to
feel so much better in
myself.
The private page, which
is free to join, invites
people to post pictures
of their walks and open
up about their own
struggles and the posi-
tive ways in which they
are coping.
Ollie wants to promote the benefits of walking, on the mind Mr Bowers said: “Walk-
ing sends positive endor-
phins to the brain; it’s scientifically proven.
“It also brings perspective, your surroundings help stimulate your brain and the positive
effects last for hours after.” It was members of the group who nominated Mr Bowers
for a Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Award.
He was named one of four finalists in the ITV Meridian Fundraiser of the Year category but
lost out on the top spot.

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