Like many people, my mental health has taken a battering in the last year and I have experienced feelings of anxiety and insomnia for the first time.  Knowing how important exercise outside is for improving mental health I decided to take on a challenge to walk / run 115 miles in the month of February, 115 miles is the distance between Abbeygate Sixth Form College and Suffolk One four times, double BATT, back across the trust twice.  

Talking to the students I teach I have become acutely aware how many of them are really struggling at the moment, many feel lost and depressed, they suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, some feel they have no future.  Some have suicidal thoughts.  Teenage mental health issues have been on the rise in recent years but the added pressure of lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions have exasperated the problem.   I have therefore decided to try to raise some money for Young Minds Trust, whilst I walk and run in the cold and rain to improve my own mental health.