Man gets great send off on his Amsterdam walk challenge

Family, friends, and Monmouthshire residents saw him off with Welsh flags and cheers and revving motorcycles, while motorcyclists from Caldicot Motorcycle Club gave him an escort through the town.

Dan will walk roughly a marathon a day for two weeks - it’s 373 miles (600km) to Amsterdam on the route he's taking.

On his first day, he planned to walk 34.5 miles from Caldicot Castle across the Severn Bridge, through Bristol, and on to Corsham, Wiltshire.

Mental illness is a lonely and painful experience. This walk symbolises that cold, lonely, dark journey through a mental health crisis.

Dan Simms set off from Caldicot Castle on the first day of his long walk to Amsterdam. Picture: Leonie Roberts

Dan has already lost two friends to suicide – his best friend through childhood, Tom, and a friend from the gym, Rory, who took his life in November.

Men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women, and suicide is the main cause of death in young people under the age of 35 in the UK.

These are horrific figures.

Dan is raising money for the families of his friends, Tom and Rory, and for men’s suicide prevention charity Andy’s Man Club.

He said: “I decided it’s time to step up. There are so many men out there who are suffering and confused and in pain. I want to raise awareness through this walk about how fragile men’s mental health can be: how important it is to speak up, to seek support, and for men to help each other.

Dan Simms set off from Caldicot Castle on the first day of his long walk to Amsterdam. Picture: Leonie Roberts

“Too many people have thoughts trapped inside them, and some don’t make it past those thoughts. Not all soldiers of life make it off the battlefield.

“I want to help as many as I can to find a way through those trapped thoughts. If I can be that beacon of strength, that’s what I’ll do.”

This walk will be physically gruelling, as well as challenging in practical terms.