A mother whose son took his own life by falling from the M2 bridge is raising money for a mental health charity by running marathons.

Billy Angell, formerly of Chute Close, Parkwood, Rainham, died in August from drowning.

A major search for the financial advisor was launched after concerns were raised by family. His body was found at Medway Bridge Marina seven days later.

An inquest at Maidstone's Archbishop's Palace in January explained the 32-year-old had been drinking in the hours before his death.

Now his mother, Georgina Angell, has raised more than £2,000 for South East and Central Essex Mind after completing the Vitality Big Half Marathon in London, with Billy's cousin Ben Cotter.

The former Maidstone resident, who now lives in Whitstable, has her eyes set on running a full marathon in the capital next year.

Speaking about the reasons behind her choice to raise money, Georgina said: "We lost a beautiful person in our life due to suicide, no one was aware he was suffering mentally.

"Like most people he didn’t want to burden anyone and was probably embarrassed or not even aware.

"Mental health is a blind, unseen and unspoken illness. We need to stand up and speak up.

"Don’t be ashamed to admit you need help. Let’s all stand together and beat this terrible illness."

Georgina has been running casually for the past year, including raising money for the mental health charity two months before her son died, but stepped up training for the half marathon on March 1.

She said: "I was running for a charity a couple of months before Billy died and had no idea I'd be running again but for a more personal reason.

"It has helped me process everything that's happened. I was very emotional at some points of the run on the day, but it's given me something to focus on and is nice to know we've helped raise some money for a good cause.

"It's great to be able to highlight the charity's work and highlight the importance to talk. Ever since we started I've had young men message me to say it's helped them talk about their mental health."

Bodybuilder Billy's death led to Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch to call for measures to be put in place to prevent people being able to fall from the bridge.

Shortly after his death she said: "It is heartbreaking to read of another person in distress losing their life from the M2 bridge.

"Obviously we must do all we can to provide better support services for those who find themselves struggling in a wider context. Clearly something needs to be done in the immediate future to prevent further lives being lost from the bridge.

"I have written to Highways England to highlight the vulnerabilities of the M2 bridge and ask for both preventative and support measures to be considered along its stretch, including the connection of a 24-hour crisis telephone."

Georgina is hoping to raise as much money as she can for South East and Central Essex Mind, but stressed any support or well-wishes were just as helpful to them on their runs.

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