I decided last year, I wanted to take part in the Great Eastern Half Marathon. I started to run for the very first time in June 2017. I wanted a new challenge, which running 13.1 miles is definitely that, as I have found out !! 

Some information about the charity I have chosen:

The Young peoples counselling service (WYPCS) is run by a dedicated committee of volunteers (in and around Whittlesey) and we employ trained counsellors to support the young people who access our services.

The service we provide is free and confidential and can be accessed by any young person aged between 11-16  in emotional difficulty.  

In the UK, 1 in 10 children have a diagnosable mental health disorder but it’s still a taboo subject for many and that is where the problem starts – the fear of talking about it. People, especially teenagers, might not want to talk to their friends, through fear of ridicule or what their friends might think. Accepting you have a problem and reaching out for help is the first step, but probably the hardest step to take.

If you do accept you need help and are brave enough to ask for it, where do you go? There isn’t enough help out there and the waiting times for help on the NHS can be up to 6 months. It seems mental health isn’t treated as seriously as physical ailments and anyone who has experience of it knows all too well it can be a life or death situation. There have been well documented cuts to mental health provisions in England which means mental health charities are all the more important and desperately need our support.

The service last had government funding in 2013. It is true to say that since then the awareness of mental health issues has increased exponentially in the media, and the NHS services and GP surgeries have struggled to meet the growing demand. 

As you know, I have 2 children who, if they got to a point of difficulty, I hope that if I was unable to help, they would then have somewhere to go for support/help. It is so important we embrace the fact that Mental Health affects everyone. For young people, this could shape the rest of their lives

£460.00, my target can be for 1 child for a full course of 12 sessions, plus £100.00 to go towards another persons sessions.