Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page and for your hugely appreciated fundraising support.

I'm walking to raise valuable funds for a remarkable charity which is causing far and wide positive ripple effects in the world of mental health, with a focus on children and young people - The Charlie Waller Trust.

Their Walk for Wellbeing is also giving me the opportunity and timely nudge to kickstart my own personal journey back to optimal mental and physical fitness after my experience with breast cancer this year. This challenge will be quite a tough one for me on the day, but not remotely as tough as it is for anyone suffering from depression.

The Charlie Waller Trust is now one of the UK's most respected mental health charities, founded by the family of Charlie Waller who took his own life in 1997 whilst suffering from depression. Charlie was a young man, only 28. I knew Charlie as he was a contemporary of mine at Durham University and many of his close friends are also my friends and so this charity is very close to my heart.

Charlie was intelligent, charismatic, kind, talented, funny and the heart and soul of any room he was in. At the time Charlie died, 25 years ago, mental health and depression were rarely talked about.

The Charlie Waller Trust's mission was and remains to open up the conversation around depression, to ensure that young people are able to understand and look after their own mental health and to spot the signs in others, and know how and where to access help. They were determined that Charlie’s death would not be in vain.

Much of their work takes place in partnership with those with responsibility for young people - families, schools, colleges, universities, and employers.

The cornerstone of The CWT offer is that their training should be free at the point of need and the majority of their work is enabled through fundraising.

Post covid, it's clear that there is now even more need amongst children and young people and their families, for the wonderful work that The Charlie Waller Trust does.

I'm a big fan of sharing knowledge, learnings and insights so that we can all help each other. And the more we talk openly and supportively about mental health the better.

Either you or one of your friends, colleagues or family members may be suffering from mental health issues and depression which you may or may not know about - and I would encourage you to head on over to The Charlie Waller Trust website to learn more about the work they do and how we can better understand and support our families, friends and colleagues.

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 Charlie Waller Trust. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thank you, thank you for your support!

With my love and gratitude.

Anita xxx