For years I worked as a surgeon at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and as an academic surgeon at the University of Bristol. I made lots of effort to improve peoples' physical health. I am now recognising the importance of mental health and wellbeing. This is something that I should have been aware of years ago. I find that running helps my mental health and I want to support students suffering with mental ill health challenges to have transformative and enriching experiences by having access to mental health support.

I very much hope that I will manage to run the London Marathon in April 2025 (this is my first marathon) in support of the Healthy Minds programme. This helps students affected by mental ill-health to get more active through user-led, personalised support. Since 2016, the programme has helped over 600 students.

Any amount you can give will enable the programme to grow further and extend the support offered to students. Thank you for your generosity.