I am taking part in the Great North Run for Alopecia UK to help raise awareness about the auto-immune disease I am entering my fifth year of living with, in the same year I have turned 25 years old. 

My alopecia journey began very rapidly in the summer of 2018 and within the space of six weeks, I had lost the majority of my head hair, this soon went on to be alopecia universalis. I remember clearly being in the first month of my third year of university and sitting in the salon chair to get the remaining few strands of hair shaved off, the start of a new chapter in my life.

Since then, my hair has grown back, fallen out, grown partially back and again fallen out, most recently being in the summer of 2022. This rollercoaster journey has involved loss of head hair, body hair, eyebrows and even eyelashes over the course of the last few years. Nobody warns you about losing your hair as a young woman and what that can mean, let alone it growing back and falling out again, twice. 

With each motion I learn more about myself and the strength it takes to show up every day as this version of me and am also eternally grateful to my friends and family for their unwavering love and support.

Alopecia UK is a small registered charity working hard to improve the lives of those affected by alopecia. The charity has aims of Support, Awareness and Research. A diagnosis of alopecia can make you feel like your world has been turned upside down. It can impact on relationships, work and social life. Many can find it difficult to go out in public to begin with, or even look in a mirror. Alopecia UK is here to help people at this difficult time which is why I am privileged to run for this amazing charity.