Over the past 2 years or so we have had our lives flipped on our heads, the Covid-19 pandemic striking and affecting us all in many ways. Within the past 2 years we have lost many people to Covid but also many people's mental health has been affected by the drastic changes to their lives. This made me look inwards and look at how I feel, how people close to me might feel and what I could do to help.

When I stopped to think about it, and speak to friends I realised how much my family and friends lives been impacted by mental health issues and that in my younger years I hadn't really realised or understood this properly.  This spurred me on to want to develop my understanding of mental health and how my experiences could help. So within the last year I have completed my Mental Health First Aider training, I have joined mental health support groups within my work and my rugby club and am taking an active role in developing a mental health strategy at work. 

Following on from this I wanted to do more to raise awareness of mental health and the impacts of mental health and this is why I have decided to run the London Marathon for the Mental Health Foundation. The Mental Health Foundation is the UKs charity for everyone's mental health. With prevention at the heart of what they do, the Mental Health Foundation aim to find and address the sources of mental health problems so that people and communities can thrive. By running the London Marathon the money raised will enable the Mental Health Foundation to continue their research into the effects of mental health and run further campaigns (such as the mental health awareness week) to educate people and raise awareness.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not really built for marathon running, so this is a massive challenge for me. Any donations would be greatly appreciated but more importantly if my efforts can have a positive impact on just one persons life then this challenge will all be worth it.

Thank you for reading,

Connor