Lifelong Newcastle United supporter's 800-mile marathon charity run set for St James Park finale

Newcastle United supporter Matthew Smith is set to undertake a gruelling 800-mile run that will come to an end at his beloved St James Park later this month.

The 30-year-old is currently on the south coast putting together the final preparations for a run that will begin at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium on Monday and will end at the Gallowgate on the final Friday of the month. However, Smith’s efforts will also take him to the stadiums of the other 18 clubs competing in this season’s Premier League as he aims to raise much-needed funds for the If U Care Foundation, the suicide prevention charity he co-founded following the passing of his brother Daniel almost two decades ago.

Smith’s efforts will see him rack up over 30 miles a day over the next month and is scheduled to finish on Friday, August 30, just under 48 hours before Newcastle host Tottenham Hotspur at St James Park. The lifelong United fan stressed the importance of ensuring his marathon run will finish in the North East and explained the significance bringing it to a close at the home of the Magpies.

He told The Gazette: “As far as I am aware I am the first person that will be running the 2024/25 season route and I think to these 20 clubs in the order as well. It’s special to finish at St James Park as well. We have hopefully got some pretty exciting stuff planned with the club as well but as a fan, it’s huge, but I think for me personally, the significance and the association I have for it with Dan, my first ever game was with my Dad and Dan, for me, our community, our organisation and family, and by that I mean the If U Care Share family, to be able to bring this back to the North East is so special.

“I did often get asked the question why am I doing national because most of our work is in the North East but I think what I want to highlight is throughout various different communities in this country, we come together through football to talk about a subject we don’t often talk about. I want to put a platform for the North East nationally of the significance and the impact suicide has. We all know that in the North East, or most of us know it in the North East, but I don’t think elsewhere, we necessarily know that. So I want to be able to talk about that as well.”

As well as raising funds for the foundation, Smith is also hoping to spread the message of suicide prevention and share memories of those lost to suicide around the country. Since its inception following the tragic passing of his brother, If U Care Share have gone on to support over 5,000 people impacted by suicide and have provided education for over 70,000 young people. The aim, as it was back in 2005, is to provide a legacy for his brother by ‘making a difference’ in the North East and beyond.

He said: “We are a North East-based charity offering support to people who are either affected by suicide or are suicidal themselves. We are also trying to educate people around the prevalence of suicide, trying to do early education with young people in various settings and I am one of the co-founders of the organisation. The idea came around early in my life in horrendous circumstances. Back in 2005, I lost my older brother Dan to suicide, Dan was 19 when he took his own life and we still don’t really know why he made that decision. What we realised is we weren’t the only ones experiencing that back then and certainly not now. We wanted to talk about it, we wanted to make a difference and that’s what we’ve been trying to do now in Dan’s legacy.”

The memory of Smith’s brother Daniel will be carried throughout the run via a wristband baring his name and a special running shirt that will show the names of over 200 people lost to suicide including former Newcastle United star Gary Speed and former Everton and Manchester City midfielder Zoe Tynan. Smith’s target is to raise £135,000 during the course of a run, a figure identified as an average of 135 people are impacted by every suicide. The link with football remains a poignant one and one that Smith believes will continue to play a big part in the Foundation’s future.

He explained: “The context of the run, and why I’m doing the 20 Premier League stadiums, is when we started the charity, the original idea came from myself, my cousin and my younger brother. It was a wristband and we wanted to try and get Dan’s memory on a wristband and we came up with the slogan ‘If U Care Share’. We just wanted to raise a bit of money for a charity, campaigning for Samaritans, and what we tried to do was reach young men. It was quite a prevalent issue within young men at the time, it still is, and within the North East we have the highest rates (of suicide). How do we reach young men? Through football, football was a huge part of Dan’s lives, all of our lives. So we sold the wristbands at all of the North East grounds and football has given If U Care Share a platform to reach people and has played such a significant part of our journey as an organisation.”

For more information on Matthew’s run and to donate head to www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/teamh135.