“The day starts as the previous day did, and the day before that. I vomit the moment I wake up yet there is nothing in my stomach. My body shakes, the kind of shakes you get when you go into shock. It starts with maybe 2-3 episodes a day and at its worst I shake constantly. I cannot eat even though I am desperate to keep something down to stop my stomach aching and the constant feeling of nausea. Disorientated one moment, like I am watching everything in slow motion to the next unable to keep still, not able to control my breathing. The only rest bite is sleep which is hard to get. When sleep does finally arrive, I wake in the early hours only for reality to hit again. I am terrified. Sleep deprived, unable to stop crying, feelings of hopelessness overwhelm. I struggle to find the ability to physically and emotionally get through another day.”

1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England. It is not a comfortable subject to talk about, but this was my experience, a snapshot of the first 2 weeks of lockdown.

I have anxiety which for the most part is not life impacting but at its worst is terrifying, severely debilitating physically and emotionally and affects not just me but the people closest to me.

Unsurprisingly and like so many people this has been the worst period of anxiety I have experienced. Overnight the world changed. The cause was not going to end in a few days or a few weeks. I am having to find a new way to manage it, in a scenario that is going to be here for some time. I have been very fortunate that I have had the support of family and friends which I am forever grateful.

I therefore wanted to put something back and do something positive as part of this experience.

As demand for mental health services have grown during these unprecedented times and will continue to do so, I decided I wanted to raise money for mental health charities who are struggling due to nationwide fundraisers having been cancelled and charity shops having closed.

It has taken a few weeks of ‘sleeping on it’ but I have decided that I should do one of the things that enabled the first step in finding a positive way out of this period of anxiety. Running.

I am not a natural runner or even a keen runner for that matter. But with sport options limited I set myself a challenge and joined the many people that downloaded the C25K app. It took 8 weeks, but I did it and in doing it found something that has helped my mental health enormously.

So, my next challenge is to run 100 miles, in 10 weeks whilst raising money for Mind and The Samaritans. These charities are a lifeline for many people suffering with mental health issues and without them many would suffer alone.

My target is £200 which I would like to split evenly if possible, £100 per charity. I have put a little bit about the charities below, but more details can be found on the individual just giving pages set up below.

Samaritans – Emergency Appeal

The Coronavirus Crisis is the biggest challenge the Samaritans have ever faced.

Just knowing that there is someone at the other end of the phone day or night, ready to listen, that will not judge or tell you what to do is a lifeline for so many. Before Coronavirus hit, 20,000 Samaritan volunteers were answering a call for help every 6 seconds.

Samaritans’ helpline is feeling the pressure. They are likely to experience more people struggling to cope or in crisis and they may have less volunteers to help answer a call for help.

Your donation to Samaritans Emergency Appeal will help them reach those who are struggling to cope. It will help Samaritans recruit more volunteers and work faster on different ways to help.

Mind

Providing advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. Mind campaigns to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.

“The coronavirus pandemic is as much a mental health emergency as it is physical one. The devastating loss of life, the impact of lockdown, and the inevitable recession that lies ahead will leave a deep and lasting scar on our nation’s mental health. Those of us who were already struggling with our mental health have fared worst, but we also know that many people who were previously well will now develop mental health problems, as a direct consequence of the pandemic." Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind

Your donation will help this amazing charity be there to support anyone facing mental health problems, so they don’t have to go through this alone.

There are two separate pages for each charity which was the only way to raise money for both. Below you will see Team Members with an option to donate. The first link is for Mind and the second is for the Samaritans Emergency Appeal. Unfortunately I wasn't able to name them separately on this team page.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, if you can donate that would be amazing and greatly appreciated. Whilst my goal is to raise as much money as I can it is also about raising awareness.

The challenge starts on Monday 27th July and I plan to update each week with progress.

Jane xx