On 25th August I will be taking part in The South Coast Challenge along with good friends Simon and Susannah Trowell. 

As many of you know I work for a local charity called Renew Counselling where we offer much needed, subsidised counselling sessions for children, young people and adults. 

Having had an awareness as a child about the difficulties that mental health can have on individuals and those around them, I was inspired to retrain and work in this field. More recently, a young man and friend Joseph Jenkins took his own life and the impact of this on his family and others around them meant that we felt impelled to attempt something quite challenging to raise money in Josephs memory for Renew which had offered him some support with his difficulties in the past.

Myself, Simon and Susannah,  who were friends and teachers of Joseph, decided on the South Coast Challenge to highlight this cause and remember Joseph along the way. We will be walking  50 kilometres from Eastbourne to Brighton, over the Seven Sisters and along the South Downs Way. This promises to be a tough one with our combined ailments making it even more of a challenge. If you would like to support us in that challenge, we have set up a just giving page. This will help to keep us motivated in the weeks ahead with the training schedule that we have planned and it will mean a lot to the three of us to have your support and encouraging messages. 

I know there are some of you who have been impacted by the challenges that we are raising awareness to and this local charity helps to fund the support that is needed to help make the changes to many peoples lives.

Having worked for Renew for the last 9 years, I have seen the benefits that our valuable service offers to vulnerable people. As a charity, we rely on donations to keep our service going. Wish us luck and thank you for your support. Jane