My childhood had its fair number of highs and lows, which have unquestionably affected me, none more so than the suicides of my grandfather, father and brother before i'd reached adulthood, all of whom suffered with mental health conditions. 

Growing up surrounded by those living with serious mental health conditions; bipolar disorder, schizophrenia OCD, along with alcoholism and drug abuse left a mark and, when I look back at that time, there was so little support for my family members. This is true for all those living in such situations, from the person affected to their family, friends and colleagues.

The taboo surrounding mental health was evident and men most certainly didn’t talk about their feelings and with that risk showing 'weakness'.  The reality is, it should be the opposite.  We can and should show strength in numbers. Feeling able to talk without judgement should be part and parcel of life and, while we have come a long way in recent years, there is still so much more that needs to happen to enhance everyone's understanding of mental health conditions.  It is long past time that we remove the stigma associated with mental health and find ways to better understand the experience of those affected, support them when and where we can and never, ever, judge a person for their mental health, much as we would not judge a person suffering from another type of health condition.

I have chosen to celebrate my 40th birthday by completing the 'Three Peaks Challenge' solo in 24 hours. With the intention of finishing by 6pm on my birthday proper and i would love for you to sponsor me any amount so that we can raise critical funds for Rethink and their Time to Change campaign.

'Rethink' and 'Time To Change' are focused on removing the stigma associated with mental health and that is critically important; it’s not just a stat, 1 in for 4 people suffers from a mental health illness - if you felt something wasn’t right, wouldn’t you wish you could talk about it?

One person dies by suicide every 40 seconds.  It is predicted that by 2020 the rate of death will increase to one every 20 seconds.  We cannot sweep this under the carpet - remember it is good to talk.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and for being mindful of people's mental health. (The lovely picture at the top of this page is of my brother Rick and my dad).