I am fundraising to support Madam Mayor, Cllr Traish Vasey's chosen charities this year.

Last year, as a newly appointed Community Fundraiser for Carlisle Eden Mind I wrote to Cllr Vasey, optimistically, asking her to consider us as one of her chosen charities should she come into office. A few months went by and one day I was running an event in Carlisle city centre and the Mayoress to-be, Elaine Donnelly, came over to chat and told me that she had been reviewing our letter with the then Deputy Mayor. I skipped home that day but tried to keep my excitement in check.

Fast forward to May 2017 and it was confirmed - for the very first time, Carlisle Eden Mind had been chosen to benefit from the Mayor's Charitable Fund in Carlisle!!

I might have done a little happy dance...but don't tell anyone.

What an amazing opportunity to raise the profile of our local mental health charity and raise some vital funds to support people in the Carlisle and Eden districts.

I'm happy to say that I have got to know Madam Mayor (or Trish, if I dare :) ) over the last few months and find her to be the most positive, warm and welcoming person you can imagine.

So yes, I am running for Carlisle Eden Mind , but I'm also running for the Royal British Legion and the Samaritans because they are the Mayor's chosen charities and I would like to do as much as I can to support her work during her term in office.

Offline amount: £30