Myself and my wonderful boyfriend James Roberts have decided to take part in the Newport 10K which will take place on the 29th of April alongside the Newport marathon. We will be raising money for the Jacob Abraham Foundation.

On January  9th 2017, my older brother Matthew Rowe took his own life. He was a bright, young man studying medicine at Manchester university. His death was an utter shock and completely blew my family away as we weren’t fully aware what support was out there for people in our situation. We were offered counselling from certain charities which was helpful.

Sadly, 10 months later my little brother Tom Rowe, who was only 15 also took his own life on the 7th October. Tom was a mischievous, fun and extremely loving young boy. When Tom passed away myself and my family felt completely lost and unsure what to do next as we hadn’t fully grieved for Matthew yet and were faced with another tragic loss.

 Luckily, we were recommended to speak to the Jacob Abraham foundation in Cardiff. Within a week of messaging getting In touch with the foundation we were fully supported and met other people in our situation. 

The Jacob Abraham Foundation was set up in 2015 by Nicola Abraham in memory of her wonderful Son, Jacob. Jacob was 24 when he sadly took his own life. Since then Nicola has dedicated herself to helping families who have been effected by suicide and helping people in the local area who are suffering themselves with mental health issues. Once a month a coffee morning is set up for people who have lost family memebers/friends to suicide. Having attended this coffee morning, I can honestly say that meeting people who are in the same situation has helped me more than I can say. The Jacob Abraham foundation has helped my family through the worst time we have ever experienced so I am delighted to be raising money for them and with them on the 29th of April. 

Both of my brothers were normal, sociable boys who you wouldn’t associate with people who suffered from mental health issues. However, this is not uncommon, those who are suffering usually suffer in silence without others noticing. Mental health is a serious problem amongst young men with so many of these people not fully understanding their issues which leaves them feeling like suicide is the only option. Organisations like The Jacob Abraham Foundation are here to help people who feel this and offer unconditional support to families who’s loved ones felt this way.

 Please take time to look at the Jacob Abraham foundation website at; http://jacobsfoundation.org.uk to fully see what they have accomplished.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, any donations are hugely appreciated! :)