Andover woman supported by Stephen Fry to break world record

Kit Birks, 29, will set off on July 7 in her aim to be the first person to travel on foot from the northernmost to the southernmost point in Europe to raise funds for suicide prevention and mental healthcare.

She has raised over £17,000 so far and has been backed by Stephen Fry in her ten country 8500km 'Stride Beyond Silence' quest, which will take her from Nordkapp in Norway to Gaydos in Greece.

Kit said: “I feel very grateful and very lucky to have such an amazing response from so many people. It makes me want to do it even more.

“I really hope it makes a difference, this is so much bigger than me, it’s about everyone that has ever struggled and anyone who’s lost anyone to suicide.”

Kit and her flag (Image: Kit Berks) She is raising money for Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) and AuDHD UK, a charity from Andover which works to prevent suicide in people with autism and ADHD.

As part of Kit’s quest, which will take her around a year to complete, she will be walking around 18 miles a day and carrying a backpack which will weigh 20kg and include everything she needs, from a tent and cooking supplies to a flag with the names of people that have been lost to suicide, contributed by her supporters.

Kit writing names on her flag (Image: Kit Berks) She said: “It’s been amazing with the flag, I still have 100 more names to add. It’s really touching and shows how important it is. What's been amazing is people have reached out to me and said they’ve never spoken about it before.”

“There’s no shame in saying you’ve struggled or you’ve lost someone to suicide.”

The challenge is personal for her, with mental health being ‘the biggest part’ of her life since she was 12.

After starting on antidepressants when she was 13, she suffered with eating disorders, drug addiction and homelessness and had multiple suicide attempts before recovering in June 2022.

Kit has stayed clean and sober since then and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and ADHD after recovery.

She said: “I had 27 years of feeling deeply lost and misunderstood.

“I’ve made it my mission to make sure people don’t have to feel like that, and they are not alone. I want to show people there is hope and even if you’re at your darkest moment, it can get good again.”

Kit's Wall of Support, where every donor's name is written (Image: Kit Berks)

Kit’s training has been going ‘really, really well’ and she is excited for her journey.

She said, “It will hopefully be very beautiful, I’ll get to meet some amazing people and see some incredible things as well.”

Donate to her mission here: www.gofundme.com/f/help-make-stride-beyond-silence-possible