In April this year we lost the incredible woman, partner, mother, best friend, Polly to suicide. No words can encapsulate how special she was. So many people loved her and I feel lucky that we used to call each other family - here’s a little of our story.

I was always proud to claim to be her “oldest friend” as our mothers were pregnant together & we were born a month apart. We grew up in flats over the road from each other in West London and even had a double buggy together. We went to St Peter’s nursery together and St. Mary Abbots Primary School – all the photos from these times, we are locked in close together in some sort of hug.

Down the line we moved into the flat above Polly’s family on Ladbroke Grove. During the pandemic I then had the fortune to be based there again as adults with Polly, and the brilliant new additions of Lee & Morecambe and we made the most of those weird times, making gingerbread men and running about in the communal garden. I will forever cherish the many memories I have with Polly – going to DragCon with Morecambe aged 3 being the youngest fan by far; an epic one-day trip to Paris with our mums; multiple carnivals along our stretch of West London… I only wish we could be doing the carnival we had planned to do together this year rather than running a marathon in her name.

Polly would be laughing at me doing this ridiculous thing in her honour and I can only hope that her spirit will be with me every step of those 42 kilometres, making me laugh as she always did. I infamously refused to run 1.5km in a school PE class as a contravention to my human rights so this will be a real challenge… Polly and I used to love getting out Cindy Crawford’s workout video with our chairs so I will be re-enacting this plus plenty practice runs along the river.

I will be fundraising in aid of Mind – Mind is a brilliant charity, working tirelessly to provide those with mental health problems the supportive and reliable information they need. I’ve used their information in dealing with grief this year. Only 1 in 8 adults with a mental health problem are currently getting any kind of treatment so every little bit raised will help improve access to therapy. The money you donate will make a huge difference. Throughout the next nine months I plan to do various fundraising activities but anything you can donate in the meantime will be greatly appreciated.