When i was about 5, i had a good friend, Zoe. She lived over the back garden for the grandfathers house and we were like sisters spent all out time playing together for about 4 years. We grew up, I moved away, we started secondary schools etc. and although i went back regularly we lost touch. At about 15 I knocked on her door to catch up but she was not there. When I asked I was told she had tried to take her own life and was in hospital.

At 15 i could not put this together with the fun loving girl I had played with, spent all my weekends and holidays with. She had always been upbeat and so full of life. Zoe was alright and we spent more time together, she got her life back on track, had a family and moved out of the area which unfortunately caused us to loose track again.

At the time it really shocked me and I kept on thinking that if I had spent more time with her I would have seen or could have done something. Looking back I probably would not have been able to do much at 15 but i might have been that person who tipped the balance.

I am not the only one who has this sort of story, if you think about it there is a story in the back of your mind, that one friend who needed a helping hand.

Most people are not comfortable talking about issues with friends or feel they don't want to put on their friends and be the needy person in the relationship. This is where Mind come in, they provide community services, guidance and information, highlighting the issues and are constantly working to improving public attitudes.

The statistics speak for themselves, 1 in 4 people will experience some form of mental illness every year and 75% of those will not receive the help they need.

Therefor i am going to do my bit by throwing myself out of a plane. Yes that is correct, I am going to go up in a perfectly serviceable aircraft to 13,000ft and then jump out the back to raise money for Mind.

So, if you can, please donate, any amount you can. It will go a long way to help the charity. You will get to know you are helping someone and making a life just that little bit easier - as well and allowing someone to throw me our of a plane - be honest you have wanted to do it yourself at some point :-) .

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.