Norway Quest & Mental Health Travel Blog

I'm James Nicholls' brother, and unfortunately we lost him to suicide last year. I dream of being able to scatter his ashes somewhere beautiful, to help honour his memory, and bring some happiness to our family. I want to photograph this journey to share with you all, in memory of James. I will share these photos to this website.

I'm planning a 'quest' to Norway for 2018, and I will scatter his ashes at a Norwegian fjord such as Trolltunga (pictured). This choice is personal to our family and James, as we've found out that he had Scandinavian genes, following a DNA test we did as a family (this photo pretty much says it all).

During our journey, I will be writing a 'mental health travel blog', where I will post photos of our adventure. I will also use this blog to provide support, advice, and to raise awareness of mental health, as James suffered through depression, and this is what eventually took him from us all. I will share useful things I've learnt from my own journey through depression, to help people who may be suffering. I will also include direct quotes of advice from James, that he wrote to help me with my anxiety.

WHERE IS THE BLOG? I will be posting my blog on this new website dedicated to James. I plan to fill this website with photos of the race (detailed below), of my travels through Norway, and of James' final resting place. I will also make galleries to showcase his art and photos, and his music for all of us to enjoy and remember him by. I can also post my blog to facebook, or to each of you upon request. This is so that all of you can experience this journey, learn and promote understanding of mental health, and see the beautiful landscape that we hope to provide to James.

THE RACE: On the 12th November 2017, I ran 10km with my friends, in honour of James, as this was the date he passed away last year, and was also 'Remembrance Sunday'. I ran to raise the money needed to travel to Norway and scatter James' ashes at the Norwegian fjord Trolltunga (pictured). Thank you to everyone who has donated already, you are all amazing and so kind! Incredibly, people are still donating, and I really appreciate this as the whole trip may be around £2k. Please do not feel obliged however, I am just so happy people are interested, and have wanted to help me and my family.

DONATIONS: The money you contribute will go towards this journey of honouring James. There will be no fine dining or five star hotels; I'm doing this as budget as possible. In the unlikely case there is any excess, this will go towards promoting James' website, artwork, and/or mental health awareness. I would plan to combine these elements, and create an exhibition that uses his artwork to raise understanding of mental health. However, it's most likely I will have to use my own savings to complete the journey, as I know it won't be cheap.

(TO YOU ALL) Thank you so much for your time and your kindness. Any help I can get means so much to me and our family.

Archived information:

I am making this an 'open run', so that all are free to join me, who feel that running in memory of James is something that they could enjoy, or would help them show their respects to James (if interested please message me). Additionally, I'm thinking that if we can get a few of us running together, we can raise more awareness of mental health through the internet, and also bring more attention to remembering James. All are welcome to come along to support the runners, as we will go somewhere for a meal afterwards to celebrate and support each other, and once again share great memories of James. I am hoping that we can turn such an awful anniversary into something different and better.

UPDATE: I now have four amazing friends who will be joining me on the day to run together!! Lee, Owen, Dominic, and Laurence.

(To the runners:) I'm planning the run to be at Sherwood Forest, as this is where James and I had some great memories of our childhood, and the soil and grass will be better for our knees. However, if it rains, the plan is to take a 'concrete run' from West Park in Long Eaton, to St. Chad's Water near Draycott (where our Uncle Russell's ashes are scattered) and back home.