A CARE HOME WORKER from Ruthin is taking on a charity walk to raise money for a mental health charity, after she herself lost her brother to suicide.

Nina Jones intends to tackle her Snowdon hike in aid of MIND at the end of August, although a date has not yet been confirmed.

The 33-year-old, who works as a senior carer at Valley Lodge care home in Llanferres, decided to support that particular charity after her brother Ian took his own life on March 20, 2013.

Nina said: “We plan to walk up Snowdonia with a qualified mountain leader to catch the sunrise, make a toast and talk about my brother or anything regarding mental health, experiences or losses people have had.

“Ian was my best friend, the person I was closest to and so his loss has been and still is devastating. Myself and mum (June) have suffered badly with out mental health ever since it happened.

“My mum has PTSD and so this charity is extremely important to us and already we have a lot of people interested in joining us on our hike.

“I so desperately want to help, even if it’s just one person, I have always wanted to help Mind and stop people going through what we did.

“Especially in these difficult times when people are feeling particularly isolated and alone, MIND can be such an important form of support during such times.”

Nina has set up a JustGiving page to help raise money ahead of the hike, so far collecting £395 (at the time of writing).

CARE HOME worker Nina has set herself a target of raising at least £600 during her Snowdon hike and is therefore already more than halfway towards that sum.

£395 has been raised so far by the 21 people who have supported her JustGiving cause.

But as well as raising money for MIND, Nina is keen to give people the opportunity to talk about their experiences with mental health whilst out on their hike.

She said: “Losing Ian really left me broken, I felt like I had lost half of me. Many people suffer from mental health including myself and many people, often men, suffer in silence by putting on a front and hiding away how they really feel.

“That’s why MIND is an extremely important charity who helps and supports people who are suffering with mental health.

“”I know it’s a really difficult time for everyone, especially with people temporarily out of work, but think about all the help people will need regarding their mental health, now more than ever. We can still do something positive at such a negative time.

“All I want to do is try to help others who are struggling and maybe prevent someone having to go through what me and my family are going through now.

“So that’s why I and a few others will be hiking up Snowdonia in time to watch the sun rise - in memory of someone amazing.”

Nina will be joined on her Snowdon hike, scheduled to take place on an as yet unconfirmed date at the end of August, by her friend Andy who is a qualified mountain leader.

Also joining her will be her partner Tom, step-dad Simon, as well as her close friends Rachel, Donna and about 30 other people who have signed up so far.

Nina says that if all goes well, she will be looking to take on other similar challenges in the not-so-distant future.

The link to donate to Nina’s JustGiving page, which will remain open for at least the next month, can be found here: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/nina-jones6