Jonny Manning

BBC News, North East and Cumbria

BBC Nikki Gaynor sitting behind a purple microphone in the BBC Radio Tees studio. She is wearing her red Royal Mail uniform and black headphones. She is holding a small potato toy in her right hand and a small bag in her left.BBC

Postie Nikki Gaynor will be handing out potato toys and “bags of happiness” during a 400-mile walk

A postal worker is preparing to walk 400 miles around the country to raise money for a mental health charity.

Self-styled “step-addict” Nikki Gaynor is set to walk from Darlington to Cornwall, stopping at Royal Mail offices along the way as part of her mammoth challenge.

Ms Gaynor began raising awareness for mental health 10 years ago following the death of a close friend and is using her walk to support the If U Care Share Foundation.

She will also be handing out knitted toys, called Positive Potatoes, and “bags of happiness” to those she meets along her journey to inspire those in crisis to keep going.

“In these bags, you have a teabag, because a brew makes everything better,” she told BBC Radio Tees.

“A heart, because you’re always loved. A star, because that’s what you are. A penny, so you’re never truly broke. A paperclip to hold things together when everything’s falling apart and an eraser to rub everything out.”

Nikki Gaynor Nikki Gaynor wearing her postal worker uniform, which includes a red coat and grey shorts. She is wearing a large woolly bobble hat. She is leaning against a red post box and is kicking her leg out towards the camera. Nikki Gaynor

Nikki Gaynor has been raising awareness about mental health since her friend died 10 years ago

Her walking route will take her from Darlington to Ripon and then down to Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham, Bromsgrove, Cheltenham, Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Taunton, Exeter, and Okehampton, before her final stop at Launceston.

She said day four to six of her journey will be particularly “brutal” as she is set to walk almost 40 miles each day.

But people are welcome to come out and meet her for a chat during the walk.

However, she warned those who do to bring some plasters.

She also said her job as a postie gives her a good opportunity to help people through the simple act of talking to them, as sometimes she can be “the only person someone talks to” all day.

She wants others to follow suit and reach out to those who need help.

“Just try and talk to somebody,” she said.

“Just reach out to anybody, even a complete stranger.”