Mental health is something that affects so many yet is talked about by so few. That has to change and the only way to change that is to start the conversation about mental health, I truly believe that we can be that change. Through my personal mental health struggles, I have learnt that when you look deep enough inside yourself, you will find the strength you need to get through anything. I now want to do as much as I possibly can to help others so that no one has to suffer in silence. This is why I have created ‘The Semicolon Project’. A Semicolon is used when an author could have chosen to end the sentence, but they chose to carry on. The sentence represents a life of someone who is struggling with mental health issues and the semicolon represents the choice to keep pushing forward and never give up. I believe that by sharing our stories and putting ourselves in the most vulnerable position, we can begin to break the stigma surrounding mental health. ‘The Semicolon Project’ will be raising money for the charities ‘YoungMinds’ and ‘Mind’, two incredibly important charities helping those suffering with mental illness. I hope that this project will open peoples eyes to the reality that mental illness is real, it's real but it goes unnoticed far too often. The change to that has to be now, there are people suffering within our closest circles and we have no idea, which is why we so desperately have to normalise speaking about mental health. A quote I found by Nikita Gil really sums up what I'm trying to say, it reads, ‘People can be so quiet about their pain, that you forget they are hurting. That is why it is so important to always be kind’. This is only the beginning, together we can make a change.

- Savannah Johnson🤍