Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I want to challenge myself to complete the Alloa Half Marathon on March 15^th this year to raise awareness for mental health. I hope to raise money for SAMH (The Scottish Association for Mental Health), more specifically for the SAMH National Programme for Suicide Prevention.

Suicide is something that you never expect to have to deal with. You hear sad stories about other people and can never imagine being in their shoes or being their family or friends and having to deal with the impact. What I’m trying to say is, that you think it will never affect you. What most people don’t know is that here in Scotland, suicide it the biggest killer of young people (aged 18-34).

On September 22^nd 2014, I lost my big brother to suicide.

Andrew was only 26 years old. He had a loving family, a girlfriend of eight years and had more friends than anyone I know. He held down a full time job where he was truly cherished as a colleague and friend, took care of the way he presented himself and loved to go out to socialise. He was a ‘normal’, young, popular guy.  I have put ‘normal’ in inverted commas because unfortunately all these factors I have mentioned meant that Andrew would be failed by the NHS.

Andrew would not be prioritised because these factors did not fit into the criteria of someone with a mental health problem.  How could someone who seemed as though they had everything, want to take their own life?

The stigma around mental health has to stop and that is why charities like SAMH are so important.

SAMH is Scotland’s leading mental health charity. In 2011 SAMH launched its National Programme for Suicide Prevention with the aim of:

• To increase people's confidence and ability to respond to suicide and its impact
• To increase knowledge an understanding of suicide
• To improve opportunities for people to access the right help sooner
• To improve mental health and wellbeing in Scotland
• To reduce the stigma of suicide

Two people will die in Scotland today by suicide. SAMH recognises that this devastates families and communities, and that its impact can be felt for years.

Losing someone to suicide is different to other types of bereavement.  The nature of the event is truly traumatic. There is no way to prepare for the utter shock, devastation and heartbreak that my family have been going through the past months.

It is too late for Andrew, but by sponsoring me, by donating to SAMH, you could help save someone else’s life. So please, give generously. It’s for a great cause and it’s for something so close to my heart and many others.

Wish me luck :-) X

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails.  Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.