Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. I am one of 35 Lloyds Bank employees who is taking part in the "Walk the Talk", Great Wall of China challenge, Lloyds Bank are fully funding the trip so all money donated goes straight to Mental Health UK.

Please read to the end, I know it is a bit wordy, but do your best.

I lost my Daughter, Kiera, last year at the age of 16, a beautiful, caring, intelligent, kind hearted and wonderful young lady. She had a large group of friends, was doing exceptionally well in her studies and was determined to become a Vet, which she no doubt would have achieved. She had a large and loving family and enjoyed all the things teenagers do, she worked hard, but equally she enjoyed going out as well.

Kiera took her life last October.  Unbeknown to family, friends and her school, she wasn't coping.

I am doing this in memory of my Kiera, it is so important that we talk about Mental Health, that suicide ceases to be a taboo subject, we should not be afraid to speak, talking will help.

We live in a society where we feel that Mental Health is a weakness, if there is one thing I am certain of, it is that at some point in time we will all suffer from Mental Illness, how we deal with it is what makes us, talking and asking for help is not a weakness, any other illness you would go to your Doctor, talk to people, admit that you need help, why is that we don't feel we can do this with Mental Health?

It is not weak to speak.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

An update,

I spend a lot of time thinking, too much really, but that's me and I was talking to my wife this morning, we were speaking about how people feel obliged to give money and how, to be honest, it makes us both a little uncomfortable sending the link and all that.

To me the fundraising is secondary; it is not just about raising money, for me it is about raising awareness, don't get me wrong, the money is important, but, the message is more so. I am past worrying about what people think, about how some people will judge me because of what happened, I never imagined in my wildest nightmares that something like this would happen to me.  Kiera had a normal life, a normal upbringing, much the same I guess as the majority of people reading this right now. We had only just returned from our holidays (that's the main picture on  my page), she'd got the most amazing results in her GCSE's which made me the proudest Father on earth, she loved animals and volunteered at our local animal sanctuary every Sunday, a devout vegetarian, we had talked about Universities and how we planned to drive to Edinburgh and Liverpool to look around on their Open days, on the morning of my baby's last day.

I'm not brave and I'm not strong, I'm a normal Dad who thought "it'll never happen to me", so I didn't think any more than that, but it did and it has torn my world apart, don't let it happen to you. 

If you are struggling, talk to someone, if you know someone who is struggling, talk to them, if you don't know someone who is struggling, think again, because you do, you just don't realise it.

Make sure your children know that they can talk to you, you'll probably get the same response as I always did which is "I know, I'm fine" but just do it, educate them, educate yourself, know where you can go to get help. They are under far greater pressure than we were at that age. Don't have a life filled with regret.

If you are reading this, do not feel that you have to donate, like I said, it is not just about the money, just share this with those you know and love and get the message out please.

I apologise if this comes across as a bit of a rant, but I truly do not want anyone going through what I and my family are right now.