Nailsea resident John McGhee with son Jack, will be taking part in the AJ Bell Great Bristol Run team event in M\ay raising funds and awareness for two suicide prevention charities.

John’s late son and Jack’s brother Max sadly took his own life in 2017 while studying at university.

John and Jack will be joined by 33 other runners across the 10k and half-marathon, with the 10k runners raising funds for Ripple Suicide Prevention and the half-marathon runners taking part for Bristol charity Hope Against Suicide.

On Sunday, May 10, John McGhee and his son Jack will be taking part in the AJ Bell Great Bristol Run to raise funds and awareness for two suicide prevention charities – a cause very close to their hearts.

Those joining John to run the 10k will be raising funds for Ripple Suicide Prevention, while runners joining Jack for the half-marathon will be raising funds for Hope Against Suicide, a Bristol-based charity.

John said: "Suicide is the biggest killer of men and women under 35 in the UK – and of men under 50 – and one university student in higher education dies every 2.5 days.

!Both Ripple and Hope Against Suicide are doing such amazing, important work and they’re equally deserving of our support, so we wanted to take this opportunity to help them both.

"Splitting the causes across the 10k and half-marathon seemed like a good way to do that.”

For John and Jack, the Great Bristol Run route will pass close to a significant place for their family – the TalkingPoint Bench by the Harbourside.

The TalkingPoint bench idea was initiated by We Are Aware, a Community Interest Company based in North Somerset working to raise awareness for mental health, suicide prevention and wellbeing through staging events, innovations and building partnerships with other organisations.

It also supports individuals with long term mental health conditions directly through groups and activities.

One of its projects has been the creation of TalkingPoint benches, which take the shape of a semi-colon and serve as a place to connect and reflect, as well as provoke and promote conversations about mental health in passersby.

As well as an explanation of what the bench represents and a list of helplines for mental health support, the bench includes a dedication in Max’s name.

John said: "When an author uses a semi-colon, it’s to show the sentence hasn’t ended and there’s more to come.

"So the semi-colon has been adopted as a symbol of hope for people who have faced mental health challenges, as a way to show that while these struggles may cause a pause in your life, there’s still more to come.”

With this in mind, the logo for Ripple uses a semi-colon in place of the ‘i’.

Among those running with John and Jack will be family, friends and former colleagues at ForrestBrown, Catalyst R&D and Freyja Fit - a locally based female-focused gym equipment brand.

There is also a team of five from Willow Chiropractic in Nailsea who have recently started a running club to support with training.    

This will be Jack’s first half marathon whilst for John, this will be the second year he is taking part in the 10k at the AJ Bell Great Bristol Run.

John added: “It’s such an amazing event and after enjoying it in 2025, I immediately signed up again.

"2Last time I just wanted to see if I could run it in less than an hour, but this year will be so much more meaningful with these important causes we’re supporting. Jack and I are incredibly grateful to everyone who is supporting us either by running, fundraising or sponsoring.

"Thank you so much.”

John first got into running when his niece encouraged him to take part in the Clevedon Park Run two years ago and felt the 10k was a natural progression for him.

John added: “I get that physical activity is important for my wellbeing, but one thing I love about running is the sense of community it brings.

"Just being able to build that feeling of connection into your wellbeing routine is so important – whether it’s running with friends, the strangers you meet at events or the people you’ve come to know at your local Park Run.

"The support you get from strangers along the way at the Great Bristol Run is just fantastic and makes a big difference.”

• To support John’s 10k for Ripple visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/john-mcghee-and-friends-1

• To support Jack’s half-marathon for Hope Against Suicide visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/jack-mcghee-1