On 29th July I will be undertaking the Prudential Ride London, a closed road cycle event which starts at the Olympic Park and goes out into Surrey (going up Box Hill) before coming back into town and finishing on The Mall. Though I'm a habitual cyclist it has been around 8 years since I rode over 100 miles in one go! I'm hoping that as long as there are no punctures or mechanicals I should be able to complete it in around 7.5hrs - though I don't really know truly how things will go!

Why I'm fundraising for St Mildreds, Addiscombe:

I am the coordinator of Croydon Friends in Need, a social support project for those who experience anxiety and depression. Most of the members of the project have accessed local NHS services and need something else to help support their recovery once their talking therapies sessions have come to an end. That's where Friends in Need (FIN) comes in. I put together a monthly schedule of activities for members to give them the opportunity to get out and about in their local area, to meet others who understand, and to hopefully make friendships that they can take beyond the project in order to build up their own peer support network.

Several of the regular activities - craft sessions and a keep fit class - take place at St Mildred's Centre which is a community centre in the Addiscombe area of Croydon. In the last couple of years funding cuts meant that the FIN project no longer has the budget to be able to afford the cost of room hire. We have been very fortunate that individuals and groups associated with St Mildred's centre and church have donated generously during this time. These donations have allowed us to continue to use the centre. Lots of other community groups use it and the space has a great atmosphere. FIN has had amazing support from St Mildreds and staff over the last 5 or so years and I'm not sure what we would have done without them!

The current amount we have in the kitty for room hire funds isn't enough to last until the end of the financial year, unfortunately, so I'm hoping to raise enough for FIN to be able to keep using the rooms at St Mildreds until the end of March 2019.

Whatever you can give will be gratefully received! Funding for mental health projects always falls short of the need, and in the Croydon area there have been further financial complications that have impacted on statuary and non-statuary services alike. FIN was hit by a 50% reduction in budget last year which has made things very difficult indeed.

Anything you can send my way will go to St Mildreds - all the money will go towards providing spaces where members can meet up with others who have been through similar experiences and be less isolated and alone.

Friends in Need also has a website/forum associated with it - this covers the whole of the UK and is free to join: Friends in Need website/forum

P.S. I was hoping to fundraise rather than crowdfund but the JG account for St Mildreds hasn't been confirmed in time (they've only recently joined up).