Thank you for visiting my page.

It gives me great privilege to announce that I will be running the London Marathon 2023 for two brilliant mental health charities, with one of them being The Kaleidoscope Plus Group.

The charity champion mental health and wellbeing, drive real change and provide crucial mental health support services to the community.

Kaleidoscope provide a range of services including: 24hr text crisis support, mental health services for both adults and children as well as bereavement support.

And Kaleidoscope were there to support me when I was going through difficult times mentally through the Spring/early Summer of 2020.

It was around this time where I had feelings of being withdrawn and my confidence was shattered as was my self-belief. And it was also the same time when we were in lockdown as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Physically I was fine, but mentally I was struggling and had a lot of feelings bubbling up inside me.

I knew I couldn’t carry on the way I was at the time and I needed professional help. I remember when I wrote to the CEO of Kaleidoscope, I felt pathetic, weak and useless. I also felt shameful in approaching the CEO and felt I was a burden in approaching her. But at the same time and looking back, it took courage for me to get in touch and get help and I’m proud that I took that step.

The CEO got back to me straight away and put me forward for counselling. I wasn’t sure what to expect from counselling but I can hand on heart say it was life-changing for me. I appreciate counselling won’t be for everyone. However, from my experience, it was a lifesaver and having these sessions gave me a new perspective on life and gave me the opportunity to open up and be honest not just with the counsellor but to myself. The mental health charity was brilliant in supporting me and I cannot begin to thank them enough for what they did for me.

And with that in mind, I feel it is only right I give something back to them by running the London Marathon. It will be my second London Marathon and my 12^th marathon overall. I’m truly humbled to be running for an incredible charity who have done so much for me.

I want to play a small part in breaking the stigma around mental health and get people talking and open up about their feelings. The more we can do that and support each other, the better. It really is ok to be not ok and admit it. And if you are feeling like that, just remember that you are not on your own.

Whether it be a family member, friend, you trust, or a mental health charity like Kaleidoscope, there is someone out there who will listen and support you. No one should ever have to suffer in silence.

So please give what you can to Kaleidoscope to ensure they can continue to carry out their life-saving work and to provide immediate support to people suffering.

Thank you.