A TAVISTOCK businesswoman has set up a charity run to support the family of a town teenager who took her own life.

Darcy Hollinson, 17, took her own life a year ago today (Thursday, April 14) after suffering from problems which included anxiety and depression.

Her mother, Debbie, a police community support officer in Plymouth, will be taking part in a 10k charity run in Canada on May 15 with a close friend who is helping her through the trauma of losing her youngest daughter. Meanwhile, some 50 of her police colleagues and friends will stage a second run, simultaneously, at a yet-to-be determined venue.

Now Dotty King, who runs a cake and confectionary business in the town’s Pannier Market is organise a third similar event for the same day at the Meadows, scheduled for a 2.30pm start.

Mrs King, a long-time volunteer with children’s charity NSPCC, and a keen runner, said she felt she had to get involved after hearing Darcy’s story.

She said: ‘There is no way I couldn’t get involved. Due to my connections with the NSPCC, I know how tough it is for everybody, and especially teenagers, at the moment.

‘I’ve launched a Facebook page for people who are interested in taking part, but the one thing I want to stress is that anybody can turn up and run as far as they want. Just as long as people do turn up, run a bit, raise money for the charity and raise awareness of this serious problem affecting young people’s mental health, I shall be happy.’

The aim of the runs is to raise cash for Papyrus (Prevention of Young Suicide) and also public awareness of the growing number of young people being affected by mental health problems, many of which have been exacerbated as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mrs Hollinson said Darcy struggled when she returned to Plymouth High School for Girls following extensive lockdowns (to prevent the spread of the pandemic). She said: ‘There are a lot of people out there trying to help young people through the mental health problems they are having, but I feel they are just coping with the tip of an iceberg at the moment.

‘We want to raise as much as we can for the charity, because they do so much, but I feel raising awareness of this serious and important problem is equally important. Suicide in young people is such a difficult subject to talk about or deal with, but this is something that must be talked about, or I fear we may be in danger of losing a whole generation of youngsters to mental health problems.’

Mrs Hollinson said she and her Team Darcy members were aiming to raise at least £10,000 for Papyrus. She said some messages of support she had received from young people on a social media tribute page had led her to realise there were others who had similar problems to her daughter’s. She said young people had contacted her to say hearing how much Darcy was loved and missed prevented them from trying to take their own lives.

Mrs Hollinson added: ‘As a family, we’ve been overwhelmed by the support we have received. Since I announced that we are going to do this run, a lot of people have come forward to say they want to help. However, I know that people find this subject so difficult to talk about. Yet this is something that must be talked about so that more young people do not make the choice that our beloved daughter did. As a family, we’re devastated and utterly heartbroken and if we can prevent other families suffering a loss like we have, then I feel we have achieved something.’

Mrs Hollinson is running in Canada with her best friend Ellie, who she met overseas more than 30 years ago. They lived together in London before Ellie returned to Canada. Ellie was devastated by Darcy’s death and wanted to channel her grief by running for mental health in Canada.

Team Darcy start running in Canada at around 9am on May 15, while the Devon contingent are expected to begin at the same moment, but with a time difference of five hours between the two countries. Anyone who wants to support Team Darcy can do so on their fundraising page at bit.ly/teamdarcy. Young people with mental health issues can contact Papyrus at papyrus-org.uk