I'm venturing over to the UK to participate in BigHand's annual BigBike with my colleagues. We'll be doing the University Challenge: London to Oxford, Oxford to Cambridge, and finally Cambridge to London.

This translates to almost 80 miles a day, which means I'm in for some long days and sore legs. The best way for me to combat the fatigue and soreness is to be one of the top fundraisers this year - especially since I'm the only American participant!

This year, we are raising money for Project Hope. As someone with family and friends working in healthcare, I was very familiar with the amount of stress that COVID added to an already stressful environment. Around the world, Project HOPE’s mental health advocacy is helping tens of thousands of health workers, refugees, and new mothers access the mental health support they need to protect their health and well-being. Lack of resources and trained health workers present huge barriers to treatment, but the social stigma and shame surrounding mental health is often the greatest impediment to care.

Health workers are among the most vulnerable to the mental health effects of the pandemic. COVID-19 has placed a huge strain on nurses and doctors, with high rates of anxiety, depression, insomnia, and distress reported among frontline health workers. More than half of those responding to the virus have experienced mental health issues.

I'm thrilled that BigHand has decided such a special cause as this year's charity.