"I hope I can make a positive difference for people" - Amy Hudson announced as ambassador for Shout and The Mix

We're proud to be welcoming endurance cyclist and mental health advocate Amy Hudson as an ambassador for Shout and The Mix.

Earlier this year, she became the first woman to ride the full men's Tour de France route plus transfers, raising over £90,000 for our services along the way. In this blog, Amy shares her story with us:

I've always been an anxious person, putting a lot of pressure on myself. I began to struggle during my A levels, and things worsened at university when I developed an eating disorder.

After uni, I worked as a mental health nurse for three years, helping others with eating disorders. I went into nursing because my younger sister had struggled with anorexia when we were growing up, but when the COVID lockdown hit, my anxiety intensified and I became engrossed in worries about the people I was working with. I left it too long to get help and ended up having a breakdown and had to leave my job. Leaving made me feel like a failure and worthless - I didn’t want to be here anymore.

Things started to improve for me when I let others know what was going on, got counselling and started cycling.

My husband had bought me a bike and cycling every weekend also really helped - it gave me relief from my thoughts and being out in nature helped me feel calm.

I went out on long hilly rides, and pushing up hills meant that I couldn’t focus on anything but breathing. It also made me feel more worthy, and reminded me of the things I could achieve. Slowly, I increased my eating to fuel my rides, which helped in the recovery from my eating disorder. I’m happy to say that I no longer cry about going to cafes or eating cake - life’s too short not to enjoy a cake at a cafe.

The Tour de France challenge

Each year, I take on a challenge for a mental health charity. Previous ones include ‘Everesting’ - cycling up and down the same hill to the height of Everest - and cycling home from Italy with my husband, covering 2,000km in 8 days. This year, my biggest challenge yet was taking on the full men’s Tour de France route, plus transfers, for Shout and The Mix.

The Tour de France is the best and biggest bike ride that there is. I was inspired by professional endurance cyclist Lachlan Morton after he took on the same challenge - cycling every stage of the Tour de France plus the transfers. I thought, why don’t I do this and raise money for charity? I set my mind on making it happen.

The route was 6,556km with over 74,000m of climbing. I completed it in 29 days with my husband Kyle supporting me in a car - he would stop at a few points along the route to feed me and cheer me on, and even rode up some of the mountains with me. He also cooked my dinner and washed my kit so I could have more recovery time each evening - I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him!

Some of my most memorable moments from the ride were:

• Seeing the sunrise on clear mornings, feeling grateful to be able to ride my bike with a clear mind, not struggling anymore
• Reaching the top of Col de La Loze in the Alps and enjoying a big cookie to celebrate - it was such a hard climb, so it was a relief to reach the top and be at the highest point of the whole trip
• Seeing my friend Laura dressed as a donkey at the top of a mountain, La Plagne, and Kyle and Laura dressed as apples (I love crunchy apples) at the side of the road on my last day when I was low on energy - it really made me laugh

The most important thing is that I could ride with a clear and happy mind, something I didn’t have when I started cycling, so I am very grateful for that. I wanted to raise money to support people who are still struggling with their mental health, and I chose to fundraise for Shout and The Mix.

I also really liked that Shout and The Mix support people with all different struggles and mental health illnesses, so it doesn’t exclude anyone.

Finishing the challenge and becoming a mental health ambassador

Completing the challenge has made me both physically and mentally stronger, because I’ve proven to myself that I can do what I put my mind to, using my mental strength to get through the hard moments.

I’ve also learned that I doubt myself way too much. I always think that I’m not going to be able to do something and tend to put myself down, so I need to start believing in myself more. I realised what a massive difference mindset makes - when I have a positive mindset, it makes my day so much better.

It's been a little overwhelming to think about the impact that my ride has had on others: I’ve had so many messages from people to say that it has helped them to get back cycling again, and that people feel more able to speak about their struggles, because I’ve been so open about mine. It has always been my aim to help others, so it makes it all worth it. I couldn’t believe how much was donated - that is still unbelievable to me!

If someone reading this is struggling with their mental health, I would say please don’t give up, no matter how hopeless life feels at the moment. Things can get better, and your future self will thank you - happier times will come your way again. Don’t struggle alone, talk to someone - and try to find something that brings you a sense of calm and happiness. For me, that was cycling, but it can be anything that works for you.

We’re so grateful to Amy for sharing her story with us and joining us as an ambassador. If you’d like to hear more from Amy, follow her on YouTube and Instagram - where she shares more about her experiences and documents her journey as an endurance cyclist. Amy also delivers talks on mental health and cycling to schools and businesses, and her book Finding Happiness Pedal by Pedal - which began as a lockdown diary - was published with the hope that it would help others struggling with their mental health.