Being at University has taught me two things. One, if I don’t set myself some kind of reason to leave the house I will stay in bed in my pyjamas all day (the perks of being an English student). And two, living only 5 minutes walk from Tesco’s is a curse rather than a blessing. So I set myself a New Year’s Resolution to actually do something with my time and run the Edinburgh half marathon on the 25th May!

I'm running my Half Marathon for the charity Mind who ‘provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem and campaigns to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.’ 1 in 4 of us every year will experience a mental health problem, yet most people are unaware of how to talk to someone about mental health or support someone with a mental health problem.

Five years ago, a close family friend took his own life after a long battle with depression. Suddenly, mental health became a part of my life that it never had been before. I didn’t know who to talk to about it or how to cope with what had happened, and I started to question why mental health was never talked about at school or in the media. It is in memory of him that I am running this race, but I am also doing it to raise awareness of the struggles that University students, in particular, encounter.  It is no surprise that mental health problems are more common in students than the rest of the population, with students having to juggle moving to a new place, leaving old friends, learning to live by themselves, balancing a stressful degree with a social life, and  the general difficulties that life throws at all of us. I wanted to be able to do something to help combat this, both by hopefully raising awareness of mental health and by raising money to help Mind continue the fabulous job they are already doing.

I would really appreciate it if you could donate some money, however small the amount! Wish me luck! Helena x