Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. I am walking from St Bees on the west coast to Robin Hoods Bay on the east coast. 

The walk will take place across 10 days of walking covering 192 miles of walking with over 20,000 ft of ascent (more than Kilimanjaro) spread across the walk. 

I am hoping by doing this I will be able to raise both money for Mind and also a greater awareness for Mental Health issues. It is a problem that often goes undetected for far too long and isn't talked about anywhere near enough.

I was diagnosed with depression and severe social anxiety in February 2013, the problems had been there for a long time prior but due to lack of understanding and a stubbornness to not accept the problem I went years without seeking help. I want to prove that these illnesses are not a sign of weakness or something that people should be embarrassed of. 

I have been working hard at improving my life and my health and I am slowly but surely getting to where I want to be, however without the support system I had during the toughest times it would have been near impossible for me to get where I am now. For many that support system is Mind, they provide emergency helplines for the people that are in need of urgent help and have many centres across the UK helping people in many many ways. I myself am coming to a stage where I feel okay to talk about the problems I have experienced and I know with more time and effort I will keep getting better. For many it is the first step that is the hardest and I feel we all need to make an effort to make the first step easier to take by removing the stigma attached to mental health issues.

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