Early 2024 I was struggling with my mental health. The grief over the loss of both parents within 12 months in 2020/21 was still crippling and I had to admit that "Time Heals" was not a strategy that was working for me.

So, I sought help, but the NHS was overwhelmed and I needed help sooner rather than later. I then turned to the internet and after some digging found Big Moose, a charity named after Gary 'Moose' Cloonan. His friend set up the charity to help people struggling with their mental health, they promise a response within 24hrs and that you will see a qualified therapist within 7 days of your initial email.

The relief of finally admitting that I needed help, was intense. Getting that help within a week, without any cost or major hurdles was an amazing experience. In the end I had four sessions, which changed my life. More about that another time, but the fact I was seen, no questions asked, no barriers or long waits or hassle to access the help I needed, Big Moose was simply amazing. When you are low, and you then have to jump through a lot of hoops or wait for many, many weeks to just speak to someone, it can be very isolating, daunting and worsen your mental landscape.

I'm therefore pledging to pay-it-forward and raise £1600 for Big Moose in 2025, this will give four people four sessions each with a therapist and hopefully that'll help them as much as it did me.

On the 9th Feb is the Farnborough Winter Half Marathon, which I have entered and will be hoping to run a PB time inside 2hrs 25mins. I'm not fast, but I am persistent and I'm hoping that my efforts will help change the lives of four people this year.

The economy is tough right now and I realise every penny counts for many people so thank you for even reading this, if you can only spare £1 then that is gratefully accepted and is one footstep towards the final total. Please also like and share with anyone you think might know me and be prepared to donate something towards a worthwhile, 'grass roots' cause.

I'll update this thread and my Socials with my current training schedule, which is going well, and will let you know my progress over the next four weeks. Then on the day I will share start line pics and am hoping my watch will allow you to track me. More as/when I find out how to do that! I will then share a win line pic with the medal here to prove I did it!

Should you want to keep track of progress, my Strava profile is here: https://www.strava.com/athletes/101445462

To find out more about Big Moose, click here: https://bigmoosecharity.co

Thank you for reading this far and thank you if you can spare something to help me reach my goal.