30 Years ago, in April 1991, Alice Middleton set up the first ever Survivors of bereavement by Suicide support group and Helpline from her living room in Hull. After losing her Brother to Suicide Alice struggled to find anyone she could turn to for support so she placed an advert in her local paper to find others who had been impacted by suicide loss. With that advert, SOBS was born. Fast forward to 2021 and Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide are a National Charity with over 180 Volunteers 55 support groups throughout the UK, many of which are offering virtual support whilst we are unable to meet face to face....and this number is growing! Sadly, the need for their services are ever increasing and as a non profit organisation, rely on fundraising donations to continue to meet the needs of those impacted by a suicide loss.

My story

I will be running, walking, dog walking, hopscotching (you name it, I'll probably do it!) 58 miles in total over the whole of April. I will be doing 30 miles to celebrate 30 years of SOBS, and an additional 28 miles, for every year my Mum was alive. SOBS has supported me recently, despite losing my Mum a long time ago. I've only recently started processing her death properly, and felt completely alone with the traumatic feelings of grief and the unanswered questions associated with suicide. I reached out to SOBS, and have been attending each month. I want to raise awareness for those bereaved by suicide, and for this invaluable charity. I also want to acknowledge my beautiful Mum, who I miss every single day. 

It is the club that no one wants to be in... but thank goodness for SOBS.

I will be documenting my fundraising efforts on my twitter page, so if you would like to follow me, here is the link: 

Gemma Graham (@DrGemmaGraham) / Twitter