Hi There,

I write this and take on this challenge with the ultimate goal of raising awareness for Mental Health and the effects it can have on individuals and those around them. If from reading this just one person reaches out to a colleague, a friend, a loved one to ask if they are ok or to say you are not - then this has been more than worth while!

A little of my story and why this charity is important to me...……. I've been there and it was tough, really tough! I remember that Sunday evening like it was yesterday with my wife finding me curled up in the bath sobbing, I was absolutely distraught not knowing exactly what was wrong other than just everything. In hindsight this was a build up over months and months where I convinced myself tomorrow or next week will be better but did nothing to change this.

Opening up to my wife was the best thing I ever did. She is the only one who truly knows how bad it got. After this first step I then opened up to my Doctor, my parents, then HR at work and also sought help from a counsellor. The more I opened up the more weight I felt lifting. The final element for me was telling my mates and this took me about 2 months to finally do. Having not known what response I would get - the support I received was overwhelming. Maybe I should have done this sooner but realistically I wasn't ready to be that honest before then.

Fast forward to today and I'm well on the road to recovery and very thankful for all the help and support of my friends, family, colleagues and most of all my wife Elizabeth.

Thanks for reading, thanks for donating and please, please look after yourself and those around you.

I will leave you with a quote from Robin Williams who sadly took his own life due to mental health "All it takes is a beautiful fake smile to hide an injured soul and they will never notice how broken you really are"

Much Love,

Sean x

The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is leading a movement against male suicide, the single biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK. Our goal is a life less miserable for you, your friends, your family and for all men.CALM PROVIDES>A free and anonymous helpline 0800 585858 and webchat (5pm-12am daily) staffed by trained professionals>Bereavement support >A website www.theCALMzone.net with inspiring content by men for men>Campaigns tackling stereotypes of masculinity, suicide and male mental health.Help us save lives.