I’m finally running that marathon I’ve been threatening to run for years! Couldn’t think of a better place to do so than my home town of Leeds, raising money to provide mental health support to the local area. Mental health services have been underfunded and undervalued by our government for years, I and my family have experienced firsthand the impact this can have, as I’m sure many people reading this will have too.

Mind is an amazing charity working to champion the value of looking out for your mental health and the importance of asking for help when you need it. They provide a range of services, helping people with many different mental health struggles to live independent and fulfilling lives.

1 in 4 people experience mental health difficulties in their lives. Whether that be depression, anxiety, isolation, stress, self harm, personality disorder, bereavement or any other negative mental health experience. It really is something can can affect any of us when we least expect, any small amount is appreciated more than you could know to ensure Mind is able to keep providing the life changing services that benefit so many people in Leeds.

Running has been an amazing tool for me to manage my mental health through ups and downs and I can’t believe it’s led to me being able to run a marathon! Any support on the day would be amazing, please come down and cheer on not just me but everyone running through Leeds on Sunday 11th May. It makes the biggest difference!

I will be selling some drawings as well to raise money, please keep and eye on my instagram page if you’re interested in this! I would also really appreciate some help making a running playlist for the marathon, so if you have a song you either think I’ll love or that motivates you please add it to my playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5rBvUwI7L0bfTBYMchSHQO?si=syLqdOrWS4C14oFWWv7h-g&pi=T7CYMP9ORDCZQ&pt=cb203fca24a81769cd52b71898161a5c

Everything is welcome!

I would also like to mention the amazing MND charity and Rob Burrows who the marathon is in memory of, if you would like to learn more about the charity and donate to support their research, please follow the link: https://www.mndassociation.org

Thank you for your support, here goes nothing!

Clarissa x