World Mental Health Day: sergeant encourages colleagues to break the silence

9 October 2026

A Dyfed Powys Police officer who is running 5K a day for charity and his own wellbeing during October is encouraging colleagues to break the silence around mental health.

Sergeant Phil Woodland has spoken of his own mental health journey and of finding positive ways to look after his wellbeing for World Mental Health Day on 10 October.

Phil, who has been diagnosed with PTSD, uses his Instagram page to encourage people to exercise for resilience and better wellbeing, and to have honest conversations about mental health.

He launched #RunForTheMind in the summer, a campaign encouraging people to be open about their mental health and to share their stories.

It came after he ran 5k a day in October last year for Prostate Cancer Uk and to support his own mental health, a challenge he is repeating this year.

 

Sergeant Phil Woodland

 

Phil said: “I started a running page to be accountable to me and supporting my mental health.

“People got interested and then cops around the country added me, so I started promoting improving your mental health through exercise and running.

“At the moment I’ve got #RunForTheMind which encourages you to invite people to go running or walking, but it’s about the conversation through running or walking.

“I was the classic male who doesn’t speak.

“I grew up in the police where you didn’t speak or anything, and ‘man up’ was said regularly.

End the stigma

“We’ve got to end the stigma. I’m just trying to get police officers to open up.”

Phil believes that not properly processing difficult experiences, particularly during his earlier career with Avon and Somerset Police, was one of the main contributing factors to his PTSD.

The father of three said that after attending traumatic incidents, including the deaths of children, there was not always the opportunity to talk about them.

Phil, who marked 20 years as an officer in September, said: “On my first day as an independent cop in Bristol, I went to the murder of a baby and never spoke about it again. I never dealt with it, just got on with it.

“And then in 2019, I gave CPR to a baby who died.

Support

“I had a couple of days off,  but there wasn't someone in work to take me to one side and talk about it with.

“I didn't have anyone to look up to in Bristol, at 20, who was saying you can feel like this. You can have these moments.

“If I’d had someone who said that, and we need to process this, then I wouldn’t have been in that position last year.”

Phil set up his Instagram page last year after his PTSD diagnosis. It has since grown into a platform focused on mental health, exercise and connection, attracting around 150,000 views a month.

He regularly receives messages from officers who say they have identified with his posts or found them helpful.

Talking can make a difference

He has also seen first-hand how simply talking to another person can make a difference.

Phil said: “It’s really interesting for men, especially, when you have a breakthrough.

“Often they think they’re the only person dealing with financial issues, family issues, and you say to them we all have those problems and you can see the pressure lift off their shoulders.”

Find out more about Phil's 5K a day challenge.

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