Rory Sasse, a life coach from Bury St Edmunds, is to add to his charity endeavours by taking group of volunteers up Ben Nevis in aid of Suffolk Mind
A life coach who is passionate about mental health is to scale the highest mountain in the UK along with a group of volunteers in aid of a charity close to his heart.
Rory Sasse, of Bury St Edmunds, is aiming to make the ascent up Ben Nevis in mid-December for Suffolk Mind.
He regularly undertakes various challenges to raise awareness and help others after his own experiences with mental health issues.
In the past he has slept on the streets of his home town, made the trek to Ukraine amidst the war effort to deliver medical supplies and delivered Christmas gifts to an orphanage in Bulgaria.
Rory said: “I’m passionate about mental health having experienced issues with it myself, so I decided to go close to home for this one and do something for Mind.
“I’ve got some volunteers for Ben Nevis, people who are going through things themselves: one girl lost her dad to brain cancer, another is one of my clients who is going through a divorce that knocked him sideways, and we’ve got someone else that has cancer herself.
“I’ll be taking these people on a mind-clearing adventure; when you contribute to others it makes you feel good, and I’ll be coaching them throughout the trip to Ben Nevis.”
Rory decided to become a life coach following what he called an ‘awakening’ after he attempted suicide.
He was involved in a nasty car crash where he broke his back in five places, resulting in him being unable to work and losing his furniture business.
“It got to the point where I did attempt suicide, and luckily I was found and resuscitated; then it was like I had an awakening and I decided I wanted to help people as life just can be really hard," said Rory.
“I’m passionate about helping people that are struggling and I want to keep growing.”
Rory first trained as a life coach three years ago, initially part time. However, after a specialised course to help people going through divorce he now counts it as his full time occupation, with a practice in his apartment in St John’s Street.
He also says that he wants to counter the stigma to encourage men to talk about their mental health.
“Talking is the key – men have always been taught to suck it up but we should be able to cry.
“I started blogging my story in the first instance and people reached out to me; by talking that helped them.”
Rory is looking for more volunteers to join him and his group on the trek to the top of Ben Nevis.
Anyone wanting to join Rory on the trek can get in touch via his Instagram.
To find out more and donate to the climbers’ trek and Suffolk Mind visit here.
The climb is likely to take place at some point between 17 December.
