Story
<p><span style="color: #808080;"><strong>Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. For those of you who know me you'll know how unlike me this is and how absolutely scared/nervous/terrified I actually am of doing a skydive!!!!</strong></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #4b575f;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mental health is such a taboo disease, how do you understand an illness when the person looks fine from the outside? It is a daily struggle being in pain or feeling sick on the inside whilst you look fine on the outside. The stigma is such a big problem for individuals who have a mental illness. The negativity surrounding poor mental health has unfortunately meant that many who are suffering are left feeling like they are the only one. </span></span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #4b575f;"><span style="font-size: small;">Did you know that:</span></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; color: #4b575f; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: #4b575f; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">1 in 6 </span>adults will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year </span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; color: #4b575f; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">About <span style="color: #4b575f; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">10% of children have a mental health problem</span> at any one time </span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; color: #4b575f; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: #4b575f; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Self-harm statistics</span> for the UK show one of the highest rates in Europe: 400 per 100,000 people</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; color: #4b575f; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong></strong><strong><span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #4b575f; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Only a quarter of people with a mental illness actually receive treatment for their illness.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><strong><span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #4b575f; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Those figures are so high and, to be pretty honest, scary. It just means that nearly half of the people you know may struggle and suffer from mental health problems. But I bet you only know a handful who speaks openly about it.</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #4b575f;">There is still a long way to go before misconceptions about mental health are overcome completely but attitudes are beginning to change as more and more people are </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #4b575f; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">realising</span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #4b575f;"> that having a mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, and they are certainly not alone. I want to help raise money in aid of Leeds Mind but not just that, I want to raise awareness. I want people who are suffering to know what is out there to help and they are not alone and I want more people to understand and learn how serious mental health problems actually can be. </span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #808080;">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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #808080;">So please dig deep and donate now.</span></p>