When my mum and I started walking the SW Coastal Path 14 years ago, I was in the grips of a baffling post viral haze that wrecked my mind and made it impossible to do all the things I wanted to do. There was very little help out there and although my family were incredibly supportive, the sense of failure and its toll on my self worth was huge.

So 10 years later when a bout of covid turned into the now familiar post viral fatigue, it was hard not to despair. But thankfully we found the Brightwell Centre and they were an absolute godsend. All the staff and volunteers could not have been more helpful and welcoming. I even met one of my now best friends there.

Despite what ME/CFS has taken from me, I’m aware how lucky I am to be able to do what I can do. I have a job; I can walk the coastal path; I live independently. That’s a lot more than many with poorly understood neurological disorders can do.

So as my mum and I complete our final leg of the SW Coastal Path, a truly magical thing to have done, I would like to fundraise for this incredible oasis of support for people that often have nowhere else to turn. Chronic conditions that mess with your mind are incredibly isolating. But as well as providing treatment and symptom management options (like hyperbaric oxygen therapy, physiotherapy, massage, counselling etc etc), the Brightwell provides a space to be with other people who get what you’re going through.

I will forever be indebted to everyone there who helped me through a very debilitating time (and let me park Gladys the dreamvan for many, many hours of sparking out!).

If you can help me raise a bit of money for them, I’d be incredibly grateful.