Boy, 9, to take on triathlon in Brianna's memory

Harvey Goodman, nine, smiles at the camera while sitting on a black pushbike. He is wearing a blue bike helmet and a red polo-neck school uniform t-shirt over a long-sleeved black thermal topImage source, PA Media
Image caption,

Harvey Goodman saw Brianna's mother Esthey Ghey talking about mindfulness and got interested in the topic

  • Published

A nine-year-old boy is to take on a triathlon alongside the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey after being inspired by her mental health message.

Harvey Goodman, from Warrington, Cheshire, has already raised £50,000 for various causes over three events since he was six years old.

Harvey said he saw Brianna's mother Esther Ghey talking about mindfulness at an awards night and "got really interested" in the subject.

Harvey is aiming to swim 1.2 miles (1.9km), cycle 56 miles (90 km) and run 16 miles (25.7km) over the course of one weekend in May as he aims to raise £30,000 to help children's mental health and wellbeing.

Brianna, who was transgender, was 16 when she was lured to a park in Culcheth, Warrington, by 15-year-old killers Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe and stabbed to death.

Harvey, from Stockton Heath in the town, said: "After losing someone very close to me, I wanted to do something big to honour them and to make sure other children get the support they need."

Image source, PA Media
Image caption,

Harvey Goodman said he was inspired to join the challenge after "losing someone close to me"

Ms Ghey, 38, added: "Just knowing that mindfulness and well-being training has really helped Harvey means such a lot to me, because this is the end goal.

"We want to be able to get this into schools across the whole of England."

Harvey will be raising money for Ms Ghey's charity, Peace & Mind UK, which advocates for mental health awareness, equality and inclusion.

Ms Ghey said she felt "daunted" by the challenge and that she was "not as confident as Harvey".

"I think I've got a lot more creaks and stuff than him in my body but I think we're going to do lots of training," she said.

Image source, Handout
Image caption,

Esther Ghey, pictured here with Brianna Ghey, has vowed to introduce mindfulness to school children across the country.

Harvey and Ms Ghey will be taking part in the swim at the Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub in Warrington and will set out from Stockton Heath Primary School for the running and cycling portions of the challenge.

They will end the challenge at Old Trafford stadium, as Manchester United are the "best team in the world", according to Harvey.

Harvey's mum Naiomi Goodman, 30, participates in every aspect of her son's challenges and leads all the training sessions.

She said she was "super proud" of her son.

Olympic triathletes Mark and Helen Jenkins and celebrity fitness expert Joe Wicks are also taking part.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, external, X, external, and Instagram, external. You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk, external