Eddie Johnson, Sporting Chance's Athlete Engagement manager and Northern Education Facilitator, is running the London Marathon in order to raise funds for the charity.
Former professional footballer Johnson will compete in the marathon on October 3.
He is taking sponsorship donations via https://www.collectionpot.com/pot/eddie/ with all money raised going directly to Sporting Chance's Benevolent Fund, which helps athletes outside of the charity's stakeholder partnerships to access our mental health support and treatment services.
Eddie's place in the marathon was kindly donated by The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which Sporting Chance worked closely with on the Heads Up campaign - which was created to encourage discussions about mental health through football.
Eddie has rediscovered the mental health benefits of running during his training. He said: "As a former professional footballer, maintaining a good level of both physical and mental health is important to me.
"I have found that running, in training for the marathon, has been massively beneficial to my mental health. Competing with myself, training well and the thought of completing the marathon has given me a focus and a direction that I had missed since my playing days.
"I'm really grateful to the Royal Foundation for donating the place and hope I can raise awareness about support for mental health for professional sportspeople and some funds for Sporting Chance's Benevolent Fund."
You can support Eddie here.