Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

As part of the "Get Doncaster Mind to Rio" campaign I am setting myself my own challenge of completing an extra 5km per day on top of my daily step count of about 10,000 steps.

Why am I doing this? So many people I know and love have been affected or are affected my mental ill health.  Its can affect us all no-one is immune! One in four people will suffer.  

I have had my own challenges and have been affected my my own mental ill health.  In September 2007 we suddenly lost our 4 month old baby boy Sam to Cot Death, as you can imagine we experienced all sorts of pain during this time, loneliness, grief, depression, stress but what I wasn't prepared for was the anxiety and panic attacks I would experience.  Every day was a battle I would be in a constant panic that the same thing would happen to George and Olivia, every time they fell asleep, either in the cot, bed, car seat, pushchair I would wake them up, I couldn't leave them alone.  Nights were the worst! Putting them to sleep I couldn't leave the room, to even leave the room would send me into a spiral of horrible thoughts and start the panic, I would shake them to wake them up and get them to talk to me so I knew they were ok.  At first I didn't know what I was experiencing, it was normal for what I had been through, but wasn't normal behavior for George and Olivia - their lives were being affected!  

In December 2007 I saw a job advert for a finance/admin worker for a mental health charity - Doncaster Mind, I decided to apply and thankfully I was successful and started working there in January 2008.  This job without me knowing it then, was my lifeline, it gave me the opportunity to understand that the behaviours I was experiencing wasn't normal, it gave me a focus, provided counselling, support, information and guidance - yes I was an employee but this is something that the organisation does on a daily basis for anyone - client, volunteer or staff.  The motto of Doncaster Mind is "Here to make sure that no-one faces a mental health difficulty alone" and that is exactly what it does.  I wasn't alone but at times I felt alone - facing something that I had no idea or experience off.

Today I am stronger, yes I still have the demons and life sometimes feel out of my control but I know that I can stick with it and eventually I will start to feel better and much able to control the emotions.  I am the fortunate one, many people arent able to or don't know where to get support or advice and this is why I will do everything I can to raise awareness of mental health and that there is places like Doncaster Mind where people can access help and support ie, information, support, counselling, personal development courses - anxiety management, increasing your self esteem, confidence building etc..., benefit support, befriending, supported housing and many more .  

Without the fundraising Doncaster Mind will not be able to continue the good work of supporting the people of Doncaster and its surrounding area so please if you can please sponsor me and help to raise awareness of mental ill health and the difficulties people face.

Thank you.