Why have i chose the Mental Health Foundation as my chosen charity for the London Marathon?

Having worked as a psychiatric nurse for nearly 30 years i have encountered thousands of people with different mental health problems and have endevoured to assist them in there recovery. Research suggests 1 in 4 people are likely to experience mental health problems in there lifetime and suicide in young men is the 2nd largest cause of death after accidents.

Reflecting on my own, my familys and close relatives mental health needs it occurred to me that good  mental health needs to be worked at and it is a corner stone cementing many of our physical health needs. Many of my close relatives including myself have experienced mental health problems at one time or another.

The Mental Health Foundation research into causation and tackle mental health issues which are often neglected. They work in partnership with other organisations and are independent of any one stakeholder group or way of looking at mental health.

They base their work on strong evidence and incorporate the views of service users, their families and the people who support them.

• They tell the wider world about their findings through campaigns, information work and the media.
• The Mental Health Foundation supports children, working age adults and older people.
• Research suggests older people’s mental health and wellbeing is often neglected and many older people find it difficult to get the help they need. As well as older people who have a diagnosed condition such as dementia or depression, there are many who experience emotional distress associated with change, isolation or loss.

We want to improve understanding of the factors that influence older people's mental health and improve mental health services for our ageing population. 

Dementia costs the country £23 billion per year. More than cancer and heart disease combined but receives a fraction of the funding, according to a "wake up call" report out today.

The number of sufferers at 822,000 is also 17% higher than has previously been estimated and will pass the one million mark before 2025, the Alzheimer's Research Trust (ART) said.

Revealing stark differences in research funding, it calculated that for every pound spent on dementia studies, £12 is spent on investigating cancer and £3 on heart disease.

The Mental Health Foundation believe it is important to involve the people who use mental health services and their carers in our work. We want to support them to have their say on the way that services are run, as well as to use their experiences to inform our thinking.

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