Mental Health support for young people

This year for me marks 10 years of being a mum, and living 10 years without my mum, and 6 years without my dad. Despite the recent loses my family has experienced, I am very grateful for everything I have in my life and for the way things have worked out for me and I would like to give something back.

I feel passionately that everyone should have access to Mental Health support and counselling when they need it. Far too many people are struggling with mental health issues with no available resources or access to help, sadly more and more of these are much younger people. Many individuals are unable to secure the help they need due to an already struggling service which has been made much worse as a result of the pandemic. I manage a GP surgery and have found that a growing number of our patients are contacting us on a daily basis for mental health reasons, but with mental health services in our area at crisis point, our GPs have nowhere to refer these patients to other than onto a waiting list that is about 2 years long, therefore in conjunction with South Beach Medical Centre, I am hoping to raise as much money as possible – by running 43 miles (70km) on my 43rd birthday – to pay for counselling sessions (these are £45 each and the average person requires 8 sessions of counselling to work through their issues) for people who have been unable to secure the help and support they need from the existing services, such as CAMHS, School Services, 3 Towns Mental Health Services etc. and are otherwise unable to pay for this service themselves.

so on Friday 6th May I will run the 43 miles on this route in Arran...

South Beach Medical Centre (www.southbeachsurgery.co.uk) is providing the premises for the Counsellor free of charge so this will cover the funding for an extra Counselling session per week and every penny of the money raised will pay for counselling sessions at South Bea

ch Medical Centre for those most in need and who have exhausted all other avenues. Counselling sessions can be face to face, or remote via Zoom / Whatsapp / Facetime video call / Video call / Messenger video call / any other platform to suit the individual.

All donations will be very gratefully received.