Running Towards Hope: A Personal View on Youth Mental Health

By Bob Wordham - Team Unbreakable Board Director

I got involved with youth mental health seven or eight years ago with a charity called Cameron Helps. Cameron Helps was a charity formed by Cameron’s father after his son Cameron took his life by suicide at the age of nineteen. Cameron Helps’ focus was on suicide prevention and youth mental health. The program, based on one developed by Trillium Heath hospital, went into schools based on a twelve-week program. I became involved because I believe that our youth are the future of the world and need to be helped in these difficult times. I was asked to join the board, and for my eighty-fifth birthday, I ran a half marathon and raised one hundred and eight thousand dollars for youth mental health.

In 2018, the name of the charity was changed to Team Unbreakable. This name was chosen since a young lady who had severe problems said that when she ran, she felt unbreakable. With the change in name, our focus turned to Physical Health for Mental Health. The program was revived and upgraded with the help of Dr. Catherine Sabiston at the University of Toronto, and she holds the Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity and Mental Health. This enabled us to develop an eight-week program that can be implemented in schools and community centers. It has been digitized so we can send the program weekly to teachers and health professionals. One in five youth today have issues with anxiety and depression; our program helps with this as well as developing physical health as the students are taught to run five kilometers. This program will assist the participants throughout their lives.

For me, it is very important that we continue this work and grow our coverage as far as we can. Not everyone can do it, but if we can, we should, or we are letting people down. Youth mental health is almost forgotten by governments, so it is even more important to bring the Team Unbreakable program to as many areas possible, and without commitment, this will not happen.