On August 4th this year our lives changed forever when our beautiful daughter Neve died by suicide. We as a family are still in shock, she was the most amazing young woman with everything to live for, she was kind, caring and conscientious, beautiful inside and out with a wicked sense of humour which I miss so very much. She had shown no particular signs of the deep, dark depression you would expect from such a devastating end. Just the day before her death she was at the stables with everyone, making plans and enjoying herself. The day of her death she had gone to get ready as we were going shopping, seemingly fine, one hour later I found her. Neve was my best friend, my sparring partner (if you’ve got or had a teenage daughter you’ll know what I mean), the person I turned to for advice about clothes and music and one of the most important people in my life whom I loved unconditionally, she made me a mum, she knew what my heart sounded like from the inside. Losing a loved one to suicide is so incredibly painful and heartbreaking. You not only grieve their loss, you grieve the loss of their future too. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem that leaves families devastated and broken. Papyrus do such important work with their HopelineUK and with their work in schools, we need to stop the stigma and start talking about our mental health. I know it won’t fetch my beautiful, precious girl back but by fundraising I hope to spread awareness and stop this happening to another family.

Suicide is the biggest killer of young people under 35 in the UK. PAPYRUS is the national charity for the prevention of young suicide and believes that many young suicides are preventable. They operate HOPELINEUK, a confidential call, text, and email helpline for young people with thoughts of suicide or those concerned about a young person who may have thoughts of suicide. Every £5 raised can help pay for a potentially life-saving contact to HOPELINEUK from a young person wanting to stay safe from their thoughts of suicide. Thank you.