Dear Sponsor,

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.  Having successfully completed the Bupa Great South Run in October 2008, I have decided to step up my training somewhat (by 16.2 miles!) and run the Flora London Marathon for Rethink on Sunday 26th April 2009.  For those of you who don’t know, Rethink is the leading national mental health membership charity and works to help everyone affected by severe mental illness recover a better quality of life.

Many of you will know that I have experienced mental ill health for some years and have been in hospital several times and often wanted to end my life.  Fortunately, I have received good support from my GP, community mental health teams and family and friends and have never experienced any stigma or discrimination associated with mental illness.  I’m also proud to say that I’ve made a good recovery and can say with confidence that I am the happiest I’ve ever been and definitely enjoying life to the full. 

For several years my life was caught up in a world of mental heath services, struggling to cope instead of enjoying my late teens and early 20’s out socialising with friends.  Looking back I really feel like I was ‘existing’ and not ‘living’. Subsequently, I didn’t have a personality, I had no confidence, no love for myself and I didn’t know who I was.  I now feel I have my life and personality back and am therefore happy to speak out about my experiences.  Unfortunately, this is not the case for many.  Too many people still experience stigma and discrimination from friends, family, employers, work colleagues and, shockingly, trained health professionals.  Many also have terrible experiences of being in hospital. 

I’ve always found exercise an excellent way to cope with stress, anxiety and depression and decided a few years ago that I wanted to run the London Marathon for a charity I felt truly connected to and now feels like the perfect time to do it. 

Rethink helps over 48,000 people every year through services, support groups and by providing information on mental health problems.  They give a voice to people affected by severe mental illness and campaign for change, working to eliminate one of the last great stigmas of our modern age, mental illness.  Please help me raise £2,000 for Rethink by sponsoring me on Justgiving.  Your sponsorship will allow Rethink to do some of the following important work:

£100 could provide one of Rethink’s support groups with essential leaflets and posters for a year.

£250 could pay for Rethink staff to meet with an MP to talk to them about the recent Mental Health Bill.

£500 could support a group of people for over a month to give mutual support and share experiences with other people in a similar situation.

£1,000 could pay for an online campaign so that Rethink’s activists can email their local newspaper and demand more positive mental health coverage.

£2,500 could enable Rethink advice staff to send out essential publications for six months, ensuring people have the vital information to hand. 

£5,000 could pay for 285 calls to Rethink’s National Advice Service – a national advice line that ensures people have constant access to vital advice, information and advocacy.

My pledge to you as my sponsor is to take my training seriously (whilst having fun too!) to ensure I am, first and foremost, fit to run on the day and, secondly, am able to enjoy the experience (and not curse my way round wondering what on earth possessed me to want to run 26 miles)!  I also promise to keep you regularly updated on my training progress, organise some fundraising events and send you some photos afterwards.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Rethink gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor me now, help me raise £2,000 for Rethink and please forward this link to any of your friends, family and work colleagues!

THANK YOU!

Vikkie
xx