MUM SET FOR NEW HORSE STATUE TREK IN GIRL'S MEMORY
A mother is to walk from south Wales to Birmingham with a life-size resin horse in memory of her equestrian-loving daughter who took her own life.
Emma Webb will trek the 140 miles, from her home in Newport to the Horse of the Year Show in Birmingham, in September for her daughter Brodie, who died in 2020, aged 16.
In December, Ms Webb completed a 158-mile (257km) charity walk with the horse named Miles, raising tens of thousands of pounds.
During that challenge the Prince of Wales joined her for about 25 minutes and discussed the topic of mental health with her.
Miles helped generate conversations on the route with other people about the issue, and Ms Webb, 49, hoped his presence has the same effect this time around.
"I wanted to break down the barriers and stigma around mental health," she said.
"I think it was a bit of an ice breaker for people to get talking about their mental health."
Miles weighs 80kg (176lb) and is pulled on wheels by Ms Webb.
Remembering being joined by Prince William, she said was "just amazing".
" I'd been told that [he] had seen what I was doing and he wanted to support in some way, but never in a million years did I think that he would pop up and surprise me en-route," she said.
"I didn't quite know what to say when he appeared and shouted 'Boo'."
Ms Webb has a campaign running called DoItForBrodie, where she has decorated horseshoes with charms and poems, as well as QR codes to a website which provides links to charities.
"I tend to put them in hotspots where people have taken their own lives, in the hope that somebody might take a second look and scan the code," she said.
Her fundraising and campaigning has led to her becoming a finalist in the creative fundraiser of the year category for the GoCardless JustGiving Awards in September.
Pascale Harvie, president and general manager at JustGiving, said: "Since losing her daughter Brodie, Emma, has tirelessly fundraised in honour of her life and we are proud to shine a light on all of her important work at our awards ceremony in September."
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