The Hartlepool man who is raising awareness of depression

A campaigning Hartlepool man has set up a business which aims to raise the profile of depression.
By Chris Cordner
Published 20th Feb 2019, 17:18 BST
Updated 20th Feb 2019, 17:22 BST
Lab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental healthLab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental health
Lab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental health

Ste Cotson, who admits to have suffered with it himself, has launched Lost Souls which sells clothing and accessories.

Ten percent of all proceeds raised will go towards promoting awareness.

Lab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental healthLab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental health
Lab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental health
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The Lost Souls website carries the message that it is ‘okay not to be okay’.

It also promotes links to other sites where people can access support, such as Mind, an NHS support page, a mental health forum, and the Coping With Mental Health (CWMH) Facebook page.

Ste, who also runs the Lab Gym in Darlington Street, Hartlepool, said: “I have always struggled with it and I used to control it through training and exercise. The gym gave me the idea of a clothing brand for people to make those first few steps.”

He added: “As a person who suffers from depression and anxiety myself I understand the struggle and the lack of support there is available.”

Lab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental healthLab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental health
Lab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental health
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His Lost Souls website was launched in December last year and Ste added: “Lost Souls was designed to take the stigma away from mental health so people don’t feel alone. So people can open up and realise that it is normal to feel the way we do.

“Approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year and are in desperate need of support, which unfortunately there just isn’t enough of. In 2017 there were 6,213 suicides in the UK and Republic of Ireland. 5,821 suicides were registered in the UK and 392 occurred in the Republic of Ireland.”

Ste is well known as a Hartlepool charity champion.

In 2015, he led a drive to get Hartlepool people to donate their children’s old Christmas presents and toys.

Lab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental healthLab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental health
Lab Gym owner Ste Cotson has launched Lost Souls Asylum clothing brand to raise funds and profile of mental health

Back in 2016, he was nominated for a Best of Hartlepool Award for a string of achievements, which included;

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l Setting up his own gym within the Horsley Buildings but then immediately finding ways of putting on free health sessions for children;

l Raising thousands of pounds for charity by doing an annual fundraising Cash for Cancer event;

l And supporting a homeless charity by spending 36 hours on the streets without food or water.

Just months later, he and a colleague had a sponsored head shave to help fundraise for a Hartlepool youngster to get pioneering surgery abroad.

Related topics:HartlepoolNHSMindFacebook