Its a sad fact that members of the LGBTQ+ community suffer disproportionately from poor mental health. Many individuals avoid accessing mainstream health services for fear of discrimination which leads to issues going untreated and deteriorating over time.

The coronavirus lockdown has worsened this situation, with many people stuck living with people hostile to their sexual orientation or gender identity, which is further fuelling mental health difficulties and crisis.

It's ELOP's 25th anniversary of supporting positive mental health in the LGBTQ+ community and our services are more important than ever. To enable us to still be here in another 25 years, we are asking you to move for mental health and participate in #exercise4elop.

FOLLOW THESE FIVE STEPS TO TAKE PART:

1. Set yourself a month-long exercise challenge that begins during February (LGBT History Month) and links to the number 25.

2. Create a fundraising page by clicking the orange Start fundraising button, then selecting the most relevant category. Fill in the page and click Create your page. You're ready to go!

3. Get social: promote your fundraising on social media and keep people updated by posting photos and videos. Remember to hashtag #exercise4elop and #elop!

4. Fundraise: it's really important to ask people to sponsor you for your efforts. Donations can be made through your own JustGiving page. If you meet your target early, why not increase it to encourage more donations?!

5. Challenge your friends: Tag your friends and family in your social media posts, challenging them to take part too!

You choose the exercise challenge so you can be as serious, creative or unconventional as you want! Exercise comes in many forms. You can walk 25km a week for a month, run 2.5km a day, dance around your living room for 25 minutes a day, do 25 sit-ups or star jumps a day. Do whatever suits you and your personal goal. Just remember to link it to our 25th year and complete it over a month.

Exercise is great for your mental health too so you'll be improving your own wellbeing as you raise vital funds for ELOP.

Your support is vital to us. It enables us to continue providing the life saving and life changing services that are so important to the LGBTQ+ community when they need us most. Thank you!