Xani Byrne

Welcome to episode 141 with Xani Byrne, who is currently riding a tandem around the coastline of the UK, covering 3500 miles to raise awareness of suicide and mental health and to raise money for to incredible support charities.

The idea for his expedition came after losing his sister to suicide in 2022.  They had always planned to ride a tandem together but never got the chance and now Xani is offering up the back seat of his bike to a different person on each leg of the journey, all of whom have been affected by suicide in some way.

I caught up with him on a rare rest day when he was about 2/3’s of the way through this 88 day challenge which will finish in Edinburgh towards the end of August.

In this episode I chat to Xani about the story behind his cycle, the logistics involved and how he actually quit his job to make this happen.

We chat about some of the obstacles and challenges he’s come across during the journey so far and he shares some of the incredible stories on behalf of the people who have joined him along the way.

I heard about Xani and his tandem after he passed through where I live and it was such a pleasure to be able to chat to him about this incredible bike ride and the story behind it, especially as he is still in the saddle at the time of recording!  He’s a great guy and he’s doing something really special.

Xani’s Just Giving page can be found here: Tandem Against Suicide UK fundraising on JustGiving

You can follow him on social media @tandemagainstsuicide

There is more info about his chosen charities here:

Papyrus UK Suicide Prevention | Prevention of Young Suicide (papyrus-uk.org)

Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide – Overcoming the isolation of people bereaved by suicide (uksobs.org)

You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

A great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from.

If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk

Thanks for listening!