Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am running the Bank Of Scotland Great Scottish Run Half Marathon on 1 October to raise funds for Mental Health UK, along with my team mates Kerry Sloan and Alan Davidson.

Mental illness affects more people every year than cancer or heart disease. One in four of us in the UK will be affected by a mental health problem in any given year. Severe mental illness can affect anyone, although it often emerges during adolescence or in your early 20s.

Mental Health UK works across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to improve the lives of people with mental illness, and to support carers. Together its four founding member organisations, Rethink Mental Illness, Support In Mind Scotland, Hafal, and MindWise, they have worked for over 40 years to provide services, information, and advice to support anyone affected by mental illness.

Mental Health UK run over 400 services and 200 volunteer support groups in communities around the UK. Over 90,000 people rely on the organisations every year to help them get through crises, live independently and realise they are not alone. Last year their health information was accessed online over 3.6 million times.

Mental Health UK is Lloyds Banking Group's charity of the year and the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run is Scotland's largest participation event so as a small Group of Scottish based colleagues we thought it was a great opportunity to get together  to help support a great cause and get mentally and physically fitter in the process.

Matched Giving from Lloyds Banking Group means that for every £1 donated (up to £500 per person) they will match that with another £1 so if  Kerry, Alan and myself are able to meet our team target of £1,00p we'll be able to write a cheque of £2,000. 

That £2.000 could help fund 12 advice workers for a day, providing people with the tools to support them and take their first steps to managing their mental health and money. 

£1.5m has been raised by colleagues in Lloyds Banking Group so far in 2018 which will make a meaningful difference to this charity.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.