STEP UP 2021 | Mental Health Walk

See Who Won the Cups!

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Thank You for STEPPING UP for Mental Health!

21,081 STEP UP CHALLENGE
September 10 - October 10, 2021

Take part in the annual TELL Japan-wide event and complete 21,081 steps in honor of the lives lost to suicide in Japan last year

Help to raise much-needed funds for the TELL Lifeline & Chat

Bring together friends and family to challenge each other physically

Raise awareness for mental health and shatter the stigma surrounding it

Help TELL change lives by taking our Lifeline 24/7

Help mark World Suicide Prevention Day & World Mental Health Day

Date: September 10th - October 10th

Choose one day across the month to complete your steps

HOW THE TOWER CLIMB BECAME
STEP UP FOR MENTAL HEALTH

For the past four years, TELL has partnered with Tokyo Tower in a race to the top to raise funds on World Suicide Prevention Day. In 2019, a sold out crowd of 500 climbers raised 5 million yen to support the TELL Lifeline.

2020 took a completely different format. We didn’t gather to climb Tokyo Tower in a pandemic, but the need to raise awareness and fight stigma surrounding mental illness was more important than ever. So instead, 455 people across the country took on the STEP UP challenge walking one step for every life lost to suicide in 2019 and raised 1,200,000 yen.

Sadly the challenges of 2020 saw more people struggling with mental health issues and an increase in the number of lives lost to suicide, particulary amongst young women and adolescents.

This year we are again asking people all across the country to STEP UP for mental health. To join us, simply use your fitness tracker and challenge yourself to a one-day step goal of 21,081. You can take a walk anywhere in Japan – in the mountains, along the beach, down a country road, or in the heart of the city. Your route can be flat, hilly, or even all staircases. We encourage people of all abilities to join and interpret 21,081 steps in a way that makes sense to them. Can you wheel 21,081 feet? Write a story with 21,081 characters? Let us know what you will be doing and don't forget to document the process.

You won't just be walking, but also raising funds to help the TELL Lifeline expand its operations to be available 24/7 and connecting with more people in need. You will be building awareness of mental health by sharing our campaigns on social media or starting a campaign of your own.

September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day and people all around the globe will be walking, cycling, and raising awareness to “take a step” to remove stigmas around mental health. Come out – by yourself, or form a team – to make a difference by fundraising to help us take the TELL Lifeline 24/7. Every step helps change lives.

WHERE WILL YOUR MONEY GO?

During these incredibly challenging and unprecedented times brought on by COVID-19, TELL has been working overtime to ensure Japan has critical information and resources available via the website, social media, teletherapy, and the lifeline and Chat.

TELL is aiming to take the Lifeline service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and extend the hours of crisis chat support. Funds raised from this event will be used to help train phone counselors, continue to grow the online chat service, and expand the volunteer base and support services to people across Japan. Now, more than ever, these resources are crucial.

Achieved

In 2020 Tokyo had 4,847 sessions. Okinawa saw 5,123 sessions while Kyoto had 515 sessions.

Educated

We taught 2,701 people about mental health in our workshops.

Connected

Lifeline services have allowed TELL to make 7,977 connections to people in need all over Japan.

Linked

We linked 73,600 people to services and resources via our website.

Challenged

71 people took on the training challenge with 41 graduating as support workers with the Lifeline.

Provided

We saw an increase in clients with over 10,000 total hours of therapy provided.

JOIN A NATIONWIDE CUP

There are incentives for being the winner of either the fundraising or the awareness categories, where your efforts will be announced on October 10th. There will still be a great trophy for winning either competition and on the awareness side, we will have two judges decide which team leveraged their creative talents best to effectively reach the most people!

Corporate Cup

The corporate cup is a team race event allowing corporate supporters to challenge each other in both fundraising and fastest time.

Find out more!

School Cup

The university/school cup is a team race event allowing teachers and students from various schools to challenge each other in both fundraising and fastest time.

Find out more!

Community Cup

The Community Cup is a team race event allowing a group of individuals to join together and to challenge each other in both fundraising and fastest time.

Find out more!