On October 1st I’m running my first ever half marathon in Cardiff, to raise funds for the charity Mind, because they do such good work in helping people who are struggling with their mental health.  I know how important this can be as my best friend took her life in 2022 after struggling with her own mental health. I am also running the bristol half and the Swansea half next year! I want to promote Mind and support them so that there is more support available for everyone in need, and so that more people don’t have to lose the people they love. Thank you for coming to my page. If you could share the story to anyone you know it would mean so much. Any donation would be immensely appreciated, and if you can't donate or share then be kind to the people in your life. Kindness is free, but being unkind can cost so much.

My best friend and I would fill our time running, cycling, walking, and talking - but most of all laughing. Anything could make us laugh, funny jokes, not so funny jokes, missing a shot in hockey, falling over, anything could make us laugh so much that our stomachs and faces hurt. She was my joy and my sunshine. A lot of our friendship was through the Covid lockdowns which meant we had to go outside to see each other, no matter whether it was sunny, snowy or raining. We would walk our dogs, go on bike rides around Ashton Court, make snow angels and go on runs. Being with her felt like having a warm hug from sunshine. We played hockey so we started to do some running to train for it but ended up just loving running together even if we did have to stop every 5 seconds becuase we’d slip in the rain and be laughing again. We planned to run a marathon together dressed in crazy costumes but with the pandemic and being too young we never did, and the dream sort of slipped away like a lot of things in life do.  But in the week before she passed away we talked about our marathon and how we hoped to do it that summer.  So I’m running this half marathon as a step towards completing our goal that we never got to complete together. I’m running for everyone that struggles with their mental health, for everyone that has lost someone they love to their mental health. but mostly, i’m running for my favourite person, the person that brought me the most joy, love, laughter and sunshine, for the girl who never failed to support me and make me smile when I most needed it, for the sister i never had. and for my forever angel. 

About Mind
Mind is a charity that provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. Mind has supported over 444,000 people. 128,000 queries were answered by Mind helplines in 2021-22. Every 82p / £1 mind receives is spent on charitable work. 21.4 million people accessed Mind’s information in 2021-22. Please use these links if you or someone you know is struggling.

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/

 https://www.mind.org.uk/need-urgent-help/using-this-tool/

https://www.mind.org.uk/about-us/

 What your donation could do:
£20 could run an online peer support for an hour helping to connect people and feel less alone 

£40 could help Mind’s Infoline answer calls, providing vital help, support and information for people in need

£50 could help Mind campaign for better mental health services from the government

£100 could pay for the cost of one of our Infoline or legal line advisors for a whole day. 

Any donation could help out Mind no matter the amount. Everything helps. The smallest donation could help support to be given to those who need it.