Earlier this year I lost my friend Lucy Murrell. Her life was taken after her 9 year battle with anorexia nervosa. Since this happened I have been thinking about my memories of Lucy, and how to raise money in her name.
When I first met Lucy she was hidden behind her hair, too anxious to enter the conversation. But as her confidence grew, and she moved her hair behind her ears, her personality began to shine through. I met the real Lucy, the one taken by anorexia.

I also personally know how hair can act to hide your insecurities from the world. Since childhood I have been teased about my ears, and so decided that for the rest of my life I’d hide them.
But in the aftermath of my anorexia I want to learn to love my whole body, and so have decided to get my hair cut above my ears for the first time. This decision reminded me of Lucy’s own huge battles seen through small actions, and is where I thought I could bring in fundraising in her name.

My hair will go to The Little Princess Trust, a brilliant charity providing wigs for children who have lost hair through chemotherapy. I feel they are a brilliant cause to further the message of body acceptance and confidence. The money I raise will go to a charity called Beyond Fear Foundation, based in Lucy’s home town of Stroud and recently set up by a friend of hers. To have the chance to support those with eating disorders in Lucy’s area, through the work of her friend, encompasses exactly what this fundraiser means to me.

So, as my final sentiments, please remember that ‘small’ words and ‘small’ actions can have big consequences. In this vein, please donate whatever you can, however small. I know many of my friends are students, and may have little money. But anything will be accepted, and you have until the start of December, what would have been Lucy’s 21st birthday.
I thank you all in advance, for visiting my page and for hopefully helping me keep Lucy’s memory alive through this amazing charity’s work.