Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Running my first (and quite likely only) half marathon this weekend is going to be somewhat of a personal challenge. Until this summer I generally only ran 2-3 miles, with the very odd occasion of pushing it to 10K!  Having trained over the last few months I am both excited and apprehensive about the prospect of pounding the streets in and around some of the London parks and taking in some historical landmarks.

I am lucky to have this opportunity, both to be running with a good friend of mine but also to be doing so through getting a place through the ballot process.  It seems to me however, a great chance to raise awareness of mental health issues and support a local charity who provide mental health support to young people in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

Specifically, I would like to raise money to support the projects and services offered by Off The Record (OTR).  In 2017/2018 they supported nearly 17000 young people through intensive support, early intervention, support groups and self help/education resources. A further, staggering 89000, were reached online.

What could your money do? Well, £10 could buy a young person a 1-1 session with a counsellor, £50 could buy a creative workshop on understanding and managing stress and £100 could buy a 6 week group for young people who self harm. My hope would be to raise sufficient money for one of each options to be offered.

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.