Katie's page
Katie Williams is raising money for Mind
In memory of Jamie and Chloe Courtauld
Story
Seven years ago my brother committed suicide. He suffered from bi-polar disorder, but he never spoke about it nor sought any proper treatment. We only discovered that he suffered from the condition after his death. My brother’s death was incredibly sudden and had a devastating impact on our family. Sadly, over the last 18 months my sister also experienced difficulties with her mental health and whilst we did all we could to try and find a way to help her through the challenges she faced, she also took her life on 11 August 2019.
It has been (and remains) an extraordinarily difficult time for my family and the pain of losing my sister is immense. No one should have to lose one sibling to suicide, let alone two.
Over the last 18 months, whilst my sister was so ill, one of the things that I found hardest to bear was the overwhelming sense of frustration that I could do so little to help make things better. So, I finally decided to do something about it in the hope I could help prevent other families from suffering the same tragedies.
I have decided to take part in the Thames Path Challenge in September and aim to walk 100km (in one go!) in order to raise money for Mind. Mind is a charity that campaigns to improve services, raise awareness and promote a better understanding of our mental health and the problems so many of us face. It aims to provide advice and support to anyone experiencing a mental health problem and also to support their families. Mind is also one of eight charities united by Heads Together which is a mental health initiative spearheaded by The Royal Foundation and whose key aims are to tackle stigma and change the conversation on mental health.
When my brother died, there was still much stigma surrounding mental health. A huge amount has been done in recent years to address this problem and raise awareness both of the prevalence of mental health conditions, but also of the benefits of early intervention through having the courage to speak up and seek help. Had my brother done so, his death may have been avoided. Had my sister sought the proper help at a much earlier stage, the challenges she faced may have been avoided and her life may also have been saved. Mind has recently initiated a series of innovative projects to help tackle the challenges we still face in talking about our mental health in order to continue to address and reduce the stigma. It is this initiative in particular that I would like to support and I hope that by sharing my story, I will help encourage others to do the same.
Completing the Thames Path Challenge will be extremely tough, but I will be motivated every step of the way by the belief that I am doing it for a cause that is incredibly close to my heart and for a charity that I truly believe can make a difference.
I am so, so grateful for all the help and support that so many of you have provided, particularly over the last gruelling year. I am of course hoping to raise as much money as I can for Mind, and if you would like to offer further support through sponsoring me, that would be wonderful. However, more important is to continue to keep up the momentum in raising awareness about mental health and the importance of early prevention. So please do share my story and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.