A 500 KILOMETRE cycle in aid of raising awareness of suicide has got under way in Mayo this morning.

The 1LifeCycle campaign are aiming to raise awareness of suicide and depression in Ireland by embarking on a 500 kilometre journey from Westport to Dublin and back again.

The group of cyclists set off on their journey from Castlebar Street in Westport at 6am this morning on a journey that will take them through Claremorris, Williamstown, Roscommon, Mullingar, Enfield, and finish in Dublin later today.

The group will then stay overnight in Dublin before leaving from O’Connell Street at 6am tomorrow doing the same route in reverse.

Suicide has claimed over 500 lives in Ireland every year for the last ten years, and the campaigners say they want to do the cycle in order to “inform people of all the good work the various groups and charities do, such as 1life and Console”.

They are being sponsored by a number of local businesses in the Westport area and have spent the last six months in training.

You can follow their progress today through Twitter and Facebook pages and can donate to the cause through their MyCharity.ie page with funds going to the 1life suicide helpline which you can call on 1800 247 100.

To contact Samaritans, visit www.samaritans.ie or call 1850 60 90 90.

Pieta House is a free service and can be contacted at 01 601 0000 or mary@pieta.ie. It runs two centres of excellence in Limerick and Dublin, as well as two outreach centres.

Other helplines include TeenLine Ireland 1800 833 634, Console 1800 201 890 and Aware at 1890 303 302.