A grieving Yorkshire family, who tragically lost their husband and father to suicide, are rowing the Atlantic in his memory.
Robert Ash, from Harrogate, died by suicide in September 2023, leaving his wife Charlotte and their three grown-up children Camilla, James and Henry.
The Ashes are embarking on this epic challenge, despite having no rowing experience at all.
They are raising funds for the charity Suicide&Co, which has provided vital counselling for the family, following Robert’s death.
The family will be setting off on their 3,000-mile unsupported row from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in December next year. They expect the row to take about 45 days, depending on the weather.
62-year-old Charlotte explained:
The raw grief comes and goes in waves and, two years on, it is still an incredibly powerful emotion for me. There is a permanent dull ache for what should have been.
Robert’s death was so shocking and so unexpected that it’s difficult to put what happened into words. He was a jolly, calm and placid person who had a strong and loyal friendship group.
I came home one day and police were in my driveway and they told me a body had been found. Honestly, I had absolutely no idea that such a thing could ever have happened, it was just a normal day at the office and then suddenly that. It was, and is, utterly devastating.”
It was Robert and Charlotte’s youngest son Henry, 31, who came up with the idea for the row.
Henry said:
I’m not a rower, we’re not really a water-based family,” Henry admitted.
But I’ve just always had an urge to row an ocean from quite a young age.
A few people from school had done it, I’d always wanted to do it so now is as good a time as ever in Dad’s memory to take it on.”
The Ash family aim to buy their boat this April so they can start training on the water and will also need to complete courses on sea navigation, weather routing and first aid.
Henry said:
They say that rowing an ocean is 90% getting to the start line, the row is the victory lap of your campaign.
To prepare for their massive challenge, the family is spending a lot of time in the gym and James and Henry are running the London Marathon, both as fundraisers and to build their stamina.
The goal is to raise £300,000, of which more than £200,000 will be going to Suicide&Co. The rest will cover the cost of the row, including the boat and all the training. Since the launch of their campaign in October, the family have already raised over £105,000.
Henry said:
Suicide&Co have been an utter lifeline for us, they have provided us with counselling after Dad died and given us a community in which we can grieve together.
The sad reality is their services are more in demand than ever, but they have been a huge help to us in the aftermath of Dad’s death.
I hope anyone going through the same as what we are feel able to reach out and know there is hope after the darkest of times.
Amelia Wrighton, CEO and C0-founder of Suicide&Co explained:
It has been a privilege to support the Ash Family on this project over the past few months. Their courage in sharing their story and taking on this huge physical and mental challenge for Suicide&Co is immense, and we couldn’t be more grateful for their support.
This is undoubtedly our biggest fundraising challenge to date, which will fund more than 6,600 professional counselling sessions for people bereaved by suicide.
The impact of the row on our ability to provide our services is monumental, alongside creating a huge platform raising awareness of suicide loss and encouraging those with lived experience to access professional support.
We are so proud to have supported the Ash Family in their grief journey and look forward to supporting them in this new challenge.
See: www.ashfamilyrow.com to donate to the row.
- Suicide&Co is a national charity providing free, one-to-one professional counselling and specialist support to adults bereaved by suicide. Founded in 2020, the charity was established to address a significant gap in support for people navigating suicide loss. Its mission is to provide compassionate, effective support to adults bereaved by suicide in England, Wales and Scotland to help people rebuild their lives around their grief. The core service is a free counselling programme, which offers 12 one-to-one sessions delivered by qualified counsellors. The charity also has an Early Bereavement Support Programme, which aims to support people from the early stages of their grief by offering a listening service for emotional support and practical signposting.
