Wigan dad's 'walk of pain' on sunny weekend raises thousands for mental health organisation

Nigel Brookwell, from Swinley, caused a stir as he walked from Wigan town centre to Standish – wearing only a kilt and carrying a 35kg sandbag.

He spent the night blindfolded in the stocks outside St Wilfrid’s Church, before walking back to Wigan in the same attire.

It was not an easy task for Nigel, who named the challenge Nige's Walk of Pain to the Stocks of Shame.

He was raising money and awareness for Wigan-based Empathy Northwest CIC, which offers therapy sessions at a subsidised rate for people struggling with their mental health.

Nigel said: “It went well. In my mind, I separated the challenge into three components – walking from Wigan to Standish, then getting in the stocks, which was the part I was really afraid of because I didn’t know how that would go at all, then the third component was walking back to the finish line. I thought that was going to be the least worst, but it was the worst.

"Because it was such a beautiful day, the pavements had heated up and it was really like walking on Lego bricks barefoot. It never crossed my mind to quit and I didn’t, because I don’t want those regrets later in life.

"I developed a technique of getting to the next shadow because of a tree or the next parked car, because it was cooler on the surface.

"I’m just glad that I did it and I didn’t let anyone down, because the support I had was brilliant.”

People joined Nigel on the walk or sat with him at the stocks to offer their support and share experiences of mental ill health.

While he heard tough stories, he said there was also plenty of laughter about his “daft” challenge.

He raised more than £5,000 for Empathy Northwest, with donations still being collected.

The dad of two has raised thousands for good causes, with previous challenges including crawling from Wigan town centre to Standish, pushing a hospital bed for 10 miles at Run Wigan Festival and walking part of the Wigan 10k in a four-stone vintage diving suit.

To donate, search for Nigel’s Walk of Pain on Facebook.