Leeds Mind supports the people of Leeds and surrounds to discover their own resources to 'recover' from periods of poor mental health, and to live life independently with their mental health condition.

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, Leeds Mind are here for you.

I totally understand from first hand experience, as a person with bipolar disorder, what it means to suffer with mental health difficulties. I have been in psychiatric hospitals and fought tooth and nail to get to where I am today with a happy family. However, I have known numerous people whose lives have been taken by their afflictions. I have suffered and felt heaven and hell in their purest most anguished forms. I have been on numerous medications and I am now very stable on the perfect one for me. However before this point I struggled for many years and Leeds mind helped me in some of my hardest times. I only want now to make my daughters life the best it can be, and she is my light in my darker times. However without help in the past from Leeds mind and other services that have also been fantastic, I might not be here. I want to let my passion for helping others with these awful affliction's (mental health struggles) and as I cannot do this in a direct way, as I am currently unable to work, I have put all my energy into fundraising and helping in a more indirect way. I am highly driven to do this and will be completing the half marathon no matter what. I have had many episodes of very severe depression where I haven’t been able to leave my house for large amounts of time (full years) and I ended up with many nerve related issues due to this and very severe muscle weakness and so this half marathon won’t be an easy feat. This is why I want to do it to prove to myself and others hopefully that if I can do it they can do things too that they might not believe they could ever do. I just hope that some people will support me by donating as much or little as is feasible, and if no donation can be made please show compassion to your fellow human beings as poor mental health isn't always externally visible, sometimes it is hidden internally. Kindness is free.