Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
This is an update from Rhys Jenkins (Helens Brother) as of 2018 to help keep pushing on with the fundraising culminating in a group of us running the Dublin marathon at the end of October.
So here we are over 5 years on from the worst day of mine and the rest of my family's lives on the 12th of October 2012. I still remember the phone call I received from the police officer to inform me of the terrible news as clear as day. My initial reaction was to tell him he must have called the wrong bloke by mistake because she was happy and wouldn't do a thing like that. Slowly the unthinkable then began to sink in and I realised it was indeed Helen.
In 99% of instances we have no idea what is going on in someone else's mind. To the outside world Helen had the world at her feet and was a normal girl. Helen was seemingly a happy, beautiful, intelligent and hard working young lady with a lot to look forward to and a host of family and friends that loved her dearly. Helen had no visible or diagnosed mental illness . Helen left no note and ultimately no explanation into why she took this unthinkable course of action.
Sadly Helen is not alone. Suicide is the biggest killer of young people in Britain today.
We shouldn't judge others and we shouldn't have a perception of how their life is panning out vs ours and we shouldn't put pressure on ourselves to live up to someone else's standards. The reality is that we don't know whats going on in someone else's mind. We see what people put on social media, but people don't put the bad stuff on social media do they (thankfully...)
Sometimes it can be difficult to talk to a family member or friend about these thoughts/struggles you may be having. If you are able to do so then great, likewise if anyone tells you they are struggling then be there for them and help them in any way needed.
PAPYRUS is the charity we have chosen to support as a family and to date a lot of people have made incredible efforts to raise all the money we have and I couldn't be any more grateful to each and every one of you, thanks very much!
PAPYRUS offer a "hope line" which is available for anyone who may be struggling to call and speak to an advisor about their problems, this is a great course of action for anyone who feels unable to speak to a friend or relative about the demons in their mind. PAPYRUS are doing some great work to raise awareness of the problem of suicide in young people in the UK and I'm keen to maintain or momentum in supporting them.
It's important therefore that we keep supporting them and raising money to keep their fantastic services going. I appreciate that it's difficult to maintain fundraising momentum for a sustained period of time. Personally I haven't done any active fundraising for PAPRUS for almost 2.5 years. But thats about to change.... (we're finally getting to the point of the update!) Myself and a few inspiring others will be running Dublin Marathon on the 28th of October 2018. Between now and then (with a lot of help from others) I am organising various fundraising activities / initiatives to raise money for PAPRUS from this event this will include:
- Pole Jam March 18th (fully booked and already raised almost 200 quid, thanks all involved - DONE)
- Wine and cheese evening at Demello/Jenkins residence March 24th (DONE, thanks all)
-Summer party 4th August Camelot rugby club Hemel Hempstead
- A gin evening (DONE raised over £200, thanks all)
- Kelly Demello & Emma Mitchell Mud run, 17th March (DONE)
- The marathon itself (Dublin October 28th 2018) confirmed participants include: Myself, Kelly Demello, Rosie Hill,Tom Perridge, Jasmin Hounsell and Steven Finch (legends all of you, plenty of room and time for others to enter, I'd love to take a party of 10+ over to Dublin and make a real weekend of it!
Finally, if you've spent the summer getting fat and boozing, it's not too late to join the marathon crew ;)
