Big news! On Sunday 13th October I will be running the Oxford Half Marathon in aid of Help Musicians UK. 

It will be a very personal journey for me as I have received wonderful support in the form of funding for long term psychotherapy from the charity in the past year. I have suffered with anxiety in the form of OCD and panic attacks for a lot of my life, but I sadly came to a head a few years ago and left me feeling very desperate. The mental health treatment offered by the NHS is effective, but often incredibly short term and can often leave things before they are fully healed. I got in touch with BAPAM who gave me a free assessment and then referred me to Help Musicians who helped me right from finding a therapist and with all of the payments involved.

I know that my story is far from unique. Many music students are in need of support for mental health issues, the stress and often huge insecurity of the industry meaning the issues are often exacerbated. 

Without the charity's support I would've been without the treatment to manage and heal my anxiety. Now I have received such wonderful help and healing I would love to give something back to the charity so that any other musicians in a desperate situation, whether mental, physical or otherwise, can access the same support I did. 

I started running in January of this year in order further to improve my mental health. I was so amazed at how much it has helped me find a sense of purpose and freedom as well as greater physical health. The half marathon will be a challenge, but I feel so excited to train alongside fundraising for such a wonderful charity!

I would be so grateful of any donations at all towards this amazing organisation and look forward to sharing my training and progress with you!

Love Hattie x

Here's a bit more information about Help Musicians UK:

Help Musicians UK (HMUK) is

Britain’s

leading independent music charity. We want a world where