On 23rd October 2017, my wonderful sister Sophie died. She was a star in my life and so many lives. It’s hard to do her justice in words.

Sophie loved exercise, being in outdoors and sharing her experiences with those she cared about. She and I enjoyed doing the 5km Colour Run in Brighton with Jonny and friends, just a few weeks before she died. Now I am running 12 half marathons in 12 months in her memory, raising money for MIND.

If you were lucky enough to know Sophie, you probably remember her as full of life, adventure and gusto. Indeed she was most of the time. For the last 5 years she lived with a diagnosis of bi-polar disorder. The downswings brought by bi-polar darkened her experience of life and brought her suffering. Yet, she was determined to make the most of life and deal with this difficult condition. She had loads of energy and creativity and was often joyous. She brought happiness and meaning to her many friends and her family. She set her mind to things, like cycling the west coast of America, and did them. She was figuring life out.

However she developed rapid cycling mood swings last year. These distorted her perception of herself and reality. Eventually one of these had, within a matter of hours, completely overwhelmed her. She took an overdose of her own medication, left a loving note explaining it was for the best, and was gone. She couldn’t have been more wrong. She was taken from us far too soon. Her 26 years were so full of life, yet I would give anything for her to have a few more. I miss her every day.

I am raising money for MIND, the mental health charity. It’s a charity and cause which Sophie cared about and donated to last year. Mental health is a feature of life for all of us and yet discussing our own mental health is still a taboo for many people. Also, knowing what to do to help those in our lives with mental health issues is invaluable. I am supporting the work that MIND does with those affected by mental health conditions and particularly bi-polar disorder (BPD), which affects 1-2% of the population in the UK. Have a look at MIND’s website to find out more.

I would LOVE you to join me on any of the runs. Anyone who cares about mental health is welcome.

Sophie’s friend Joe Arnold is also running 12 half marathons in 2018 for Sophie. Our Just Giving pages are part of our team called #RunningforSoph

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.