Hebburn Helps hero Angie Comerford training for one of her toughest physical challenges yet as she sets out plans for 2022

Angie Comerford, co-founder of Hebburn Helps, is well known in the borough for her work with the food bank and crisis response team.

And 2022 will see her taking on a number of challenges in aid of mental health and suicide prevention.

It is a personal cause for Angie, who lost her father Brian Hannigan to suicide in 2012 at the age 60, with this year marking the tenth anniversary of his loss.

Angie will take part in the annual Walk of Hope event – which she founded – in September, a trek from Marsden Grotto in South Shields to The Angel of the North in Gateshead.

And in October, alongside her husband Stephen, she will take part in one of her toughest physical challenges yet – The Lochness Marathon.

Both of these challenges will see Angie raise money for If U Care Share Foundation, a suicide prevention and mental health charity.

She said: “The reason I’ve chosen these guys is because for years I have preached about mental health and suicide after losing my dad in this way. I lost him nine years ago and ever since then I have tried my best to raise awareness around the subject.

"I’m super passionate and by me doing this I’m hoping to raise lots of funds for them as well as lots of awareness.”

Angie has previously told how her dad had suffered with depression, an affliction she has battled herself over the years.

In the past, she has left messages of support at locations around the North East in an effort to reach out to others who are struggling.

Angie was due to begin her training for the Lochness Marathon on Monday, January 3.

This is the first time Angie has run such a distance, but is keen to push herself and raise funds and awareness for a cause close to her heart.

She and Stephen have set themselves a target time of around five hours to complete the 26.2-mile challenge against the scenic backdrop of Lochness, one of the world’s most famous bodies of water.

It comes after her marathon-distance walk along the coast in 2021 in aid of the South Shields Volunteer Lifebrigade, whose volunteers are often called out to reports of people in distress.

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