A woman has completed an 11-month off-grid trek alone to raise money for suicide prevention. Kit Birks, 30, said walking nearly 5,000 miles was 'one of the toughest and most incredible experiences' of her life as the massive expedition came to a close.
Setting off on July 7 of last year, she traversed 13 countries in Europe, passing through the remote wilderness of Nordkapp, Norway, all the way to the isolated Greek island of Gavdos. She lived out of a 23kg backpack and spent stretches of up to 10 days completely off-grid in the Arctic Circle. Along the way, she narrowly avoided a cliff fall in Sweden and constantly had to navigate the unique personal safety challenges that come with wild camping and travelling alone as a woman.
Dubbed 'Stride Beyond Silence', her mission aimed to raise crucial awareness for mental illness and suicide prevention. Birks, of Andover, Hampshire, carried a memorial flag bearing the names of hundreds of individuals lost to suicide. Her trek was the equivalent of walking from Land's End to John O' Groats eight times over, and her total vertical ascent mimics scaling Mount Everest nearly 13 times.
Driven by her own open struggles with eating disorders, drug addiction, and suicide attempts, Birks' challenge was designed to encourage transparent conversations around mental health. She said: 'A journey of this scale changes you as a person but the best part has been the community that has come together. The amount of people sharing their grief, their own struggles and their hope. To see comments and messages from strangers telling me they've survived another day because of this or expressing their gratitude for carrying their loved one on my flag, is a feeling that I will never find the words to describe. It's proof that vulnerability is strength because it helps others feel less alone. This may have been a solo journey but together we made noise for suicide prevention, together we kept striding beyond silence.'
She kept her 60,000 TikTok followers and 155,000 Instagram followers updated throughout her journey, hoping to raise more than £100,000. The funds will be split between two mental health charities: the Campaign Against Living Miserably (Calm) and James' Place, which provides life-saving treatment for men in suicidal crisis.
Calm chief executive Simon Gunning said: 'All of us at Calm have loved following Kit's journey across Europe over the last year. Not only has Kit raised an amazing amount, but her openness when it comes to mental health has been so incredible. We know that stories of survival have a huge impact in showing someone struggling there's always a way forward, and we're so grateful that Kit's championing such an important message.'
Samaritans are here to listen, day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org for more information.
