Made in Chelsea star set to run in Wakefield as part of his 'Run 4 1 Million' world record-breaking marathon charity challenge

The athlete, campaigner and TV personality will begin his ‘Run 4 1 Million’ challenge on February 27 and is expected to arrive in the city on Friday, March 24..

Josh will be running 76 marathons, in 76 cities, in 76 days, with the aim of raising £1 million for suicide prevention charity, Samaritans.

Already the holder of two world record titles, Josh’s journey will cover all cities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in a bid to raise awareness about mental health and help save lives.

Having battled with mental health since his teenage years, and with suicide being the leading cause of death for men under the age of 50, Josh has launched ‘Run 4 1 Million’ to demonstrate that anything is possible if you set your mind and body to it.

“Having struggled with mental health myself to the point I thought about ending my life, I was fortunate enough to get support from several incredible professionals, my family, and friends. I’m very aware though, not everyone is as lucky,” he said.

"My life has changed immeasurably since that moment and I’m now in a place where I want to show others they are not alone, and things can and will get better.

"Through testing my own limits with endurance sport, I have built strength, resilience, and best of all, a community I love. Setting myself near impossible challenges has been a vital tool to attract attention and to shine a light on mental health.

"Whether you are personally struggling or have been impacted by mental health through a loved one, I hope that this mammoth challenge will inspire people to reach out, speak out, and know they are not alone.

"So come and join me in one of the cities for a run or to say hey and if I don’t see you in person, all I ask is for you to spread the word about the challenge. Together let’s make a World Record and get more people exercising while talking about how they are genuinely feeling.”

Josh aims to raise £1 million for Samaritans, which could help answer an incredible 200,000 calls for help as well as raising awareness and to destigmatise mental health by encouraging people to talk about how they are feeling.

With one in three adults in the UK having struggled with mental health, Samaritans is a leading charity helping to prevent suicide across the UK and Ireland.

It has over 200 branches and around 22,000 volunteers and responds to around 10,000 calls per day, at all hours, 365 days a year.

Sonya Trivedy, Samaritans Executive Director for Income, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Josh who will not only be raising money to help Samaritans be there for people struggling to cope, he will also be spreading his message of hope to every city across the UK.

"We wish him the very best of luck and look forward to cheering him on throughout his inspirational challenge and over the last finish line in London.”

To donate to Run for 1 Million visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/joshua-patterson-runfor1million.