My birthday is coming up, it’s not a big or special one in terms of number, but it is a special one in that I made it through another year. 

Some of you may know that I struggle with mental health. I have depression and anxiety all of which manifests in the form of an eating disorder among other things. For the past two years I have on and off been seeing an amazing charity called Eating Matters. They are a tiny charity in Norwich and offer multiple different types of support for eating disorders. 

Not only do they offer support for eating disorders, but they will support you with all aspects of your life. The caring and wonderful staff donate their time to help people who struggle with eating disorders and will help those who are not considered ‘bad enough’ for NHS treatment. Instead of having to turn to private treatment which is unaffordable a lot of the time, Eating Matters provide free one to one therapy, group sessions, support groups and generally just a kind and supportive ear. I have been so genuinely lucky to be able to work with this charity and they have provided me with advice, guidance and support for the long and painful journey of recovery. 

I am doing it on Justgiving as Facebook doesn’t recognise them as a charity yet (I promise they are) I wanted to set this up because the charity means a lot to me; but also because I want to be able to give back for just a tiny bit of all the good they have done for me. I wouldn’t have made some of the progress I have without them and I would love to help others get that same level of support, care and compassion that the staff at Eating Matters have given me. 

This isn’t meant to come across as self serving or self interested, it’s not a plea for sympathy. If I am able to raise some money for this amazing charity, great. But I also want to show that there is help and support out there and there is no need to hide from the troubles you are facing. It’s a long and difficult journey, but it’s a journey I am on, not a part of me. 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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.