the BBC’s Make A Difference Awards<\/a> 2025.<\/p>\n“It started off as an idea that I had just before Covid and it has expanded into large numbers of people who meet every year to do long walks,” Mr Elwood said.<\/p>\n
“The Big Dander reaches out to people, it gets people to walk and talk. <\/p>\n
“Every time that we have a Big Dander, there are counsellors that we employ to come and talk with you, walking and talking.<\/p>\n
“There’s not enough mental health charities, and that’s why The Big Dander became an entity of its own.<\/p>\n
“If it saves one life, it works.”<\/p>\n
After being told he had been proposed for an award, Mr Elwood said he felt “overwhelmed”.<\/p>\n
“It’s an honour to be nominated for anything, but it’s certainly not why we did it,” he said. <\/p>\n
“The Big Dander is for other people. All I get out of it is the gratification that I’m helping someone \u2013 and I like walking, I like meeting people, and I like talking.”<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755184337_952_grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Brian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/540b63d0-7e88-11f0-923e-99997b6988ee.jpg.webp.webp\")
Brian Elwood<\/p>\n
The Big Dander gets people walking and talking<\/p>\n
Mr Elwood has been in the funeral business in Dunmurry for 37 years, and has always walked to help his own mental health.<\/p>\n
He has been nominated in the Active Award category.<\/p>\n
It recognises an individual or group of people who have used physical activity or sport as a way of improving the lives of those in their community.<\/p>\n
The danders started along the Antrim coast, but this year the long-distance walk went from Portrush to Muff in County Donegal.<\/p>\n
Long and short walks are organised, and there is also a 24\/7 online support platform with access to trained counsellors. <\/p>\n
Day trips are arranged for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, providing transport and meals at no cost.<\/p>\n
Who are the other finalists?<\/p>\n
Other finalists in the Active Award category are:<\/p>\n
Jennifer Smyth<\/b><\/p>\n
She founded Jenn’s Gym, Northern Ireland’s first gym specifically designed for people with neurological conditions and disabilities. <\/p>\n
After sustaining a spinal cord injury at 16, Ms Smyth used her recovery experience to create an accessible gym facility near Londonderry. <\/p>\n
The gym provides specialised equipment for rehabilitation and fitness.<\/p>\n
Peter Dolan<\/b><\/p>\n
He founded the Run for Enda foundation in memory of his son, promoting community fitness and road safety awareness. <\/p>\n
He leads regular training sessions, supports runners of all abilities and promotes inclusion for deaf participants. <\/p>\n
The initiative has expanded internationally, with a new branch in Melbourne. <\/p>\n
Mr Dolan also campaigns for sentencing reform in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Ann McBrien<\/b><\/p>\n
The lead organiser of Belfast’s 5k Your Way \u2013 Move Against Cancer, a monthly event encouraging cancer patients and their families to walk or run 5km at Ormeau Park. <\/p>\n
Ms McBrien, who lives with advanced breast cancer, is also a volunteer with Friends of the Cancer Centre and previously participated in a clinical trial promoting physical activity during cancer treatment.<\/p>\n
What is BBC Make a Difference?<\/p>\n
Make a Difference is a BBC initiative seeking to recognise and celebrate members of the public who make life better for others where they live.<\/p>\n
Since February, BBC teams from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been asking audiences to nominate the unsung heroes in their local communities who do amazing things.<\/p>\n
Finalists have been selected by a panel of judges in each of the eight categories ahead of the Northern Ireland final in September.<\/p>\n
The categories are:<\/p>\n
* The Volunteer Awards<\/p>\n
* The Young Hero Award<\/p>\n
* The Great Neighbour Award<\/p>\n
* The Active Award<\/p>\n
* The Animal Award<\/p>\n
* The Green Award<\/p>\n
* The Fundraiser Award<\/p>\n
* The Community Group Award<\/p>\n
Overall winners from each category will be announced live on BBC Radio Ulster’s Vinny and Cate show on Friday 26 September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brian Elwood Brian Elwood’s charity walk has grown into a bigger initiative A Belfast funeral director is trying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4317],"tags":[105,218,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-369368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115082885619730131","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Brian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/e7b244b0-7e87-11f0-923e-99997b6988ee.jpg.webp.webp\")
Brian Elwood<\/p>\n