I want thank you for your donation to Mind in support of my very first marathon. Thank you for your kindness and generosity; this charity means so much to us and we feel they desperately need our support, their mission is to provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. To improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. They won't give up until everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets support and respect. They believe no-one should have to face a mental health problem alone.

I will be running the inaugural Stirling Marathon on the 21st May 2017. This will be my first marathon, and most of you will not know me as a fan of running, in fact I think I spent 22 years saying I don't run and running was pointless....how things change!

This will be my 4th year of raising money for Mind. As most of you know I did the London to Brighton 100km challenge in 2014 and 2015, and the Isle of Wight 106km challnge in 2016. The challenge for 2017 is to run a marathon. The longest race I have run (not walked) is 10miles (16km), so it may not be 100km, but it is going to be a big challenge for me! My aim is to raise £10000 in 5 years, so I have this event and one next year to raise £3301. Thank you to the people who have supported me through the years. You know how much it means to me. 

I feel very passionate about cause as I know first-hand how difficult it is to find support and guidance with mental health difficulties. Since approximately the age of 14 I have struggled with depression and anxiety, and receiving the support and help I needed did not come easily. These services are so underfunded I didn’t get any sort of help until the age of 17 - and even then I was on a 2 year waiting list to see a counsellor and an even longer list to see a CBT therapist. Fortunately my parents could afford to pay for the £20-60 per hour sessions to go privately, however I know for so many people this just isn’t feasible. I had a very bad time during 6th form, I felt lost, alone and desperate, and I didn't know what to do to make it better. I turned to self harm to feel that temporary relief from the pain, it made me feel in control, when in reality I had lost all control. Things got progressively worse and I attempted the unthinkable. I am not proud of myself during that time with what I put my family and friends through. To all I am sorry.

 I have been slowly getting better and things became more positive, and in the last year I really feel I have turned a corner. I have graduated with a good degree, got a great job, living a beautiful part of the world and thoroughly looking forward to what the future will bring.

I want to support Mind as I don’t want other people going through similar things to have to suffer in silence, with the stigma of a mental illness and the feeling of abandonment by the health services. This is an invisible illness and it is too often pushed to the side to make room for the more high profile (visible) illnesses.

Once again thank you so much

Kirsten x

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