For Hope in Every Life is the first appeal ever to focus on people living with complex mental health needs and is backed by a wonderful charity I have had the privilege of working at for the last 22 years; St Andrew’s Healthcare.

The appeal was born out of a deep desire to do more - to spark innovation, to open new doors and to inspire hope.

On the 25th of October this year, I will be abseiling down the very tall Northampton Tower! Something I have no desire to do!! :) The funds raised will not only be invested in to important research to better understand complex mental health, but they will provide better care offerings for our patients.

The sad reality is 1 in 4 of us experience mental health problems. Some of us will experience severe mental illness, with 1 in every 105 of us having a mental health diagnosis classified as severe. That's about half a million people in the UK - about the same number as live in Edinburgh!

For many people, there are other factors that can make living with a severe mental illness even more difficult - a mental health condition is considered complex when people are living with a severe mental illness alongside another condition or complicating factor. For example, someone may have a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and a learning difficulty, or they may have psychosis and also be homeless with a history of substance abuse.

St Andrew's Healthcare aims to help people with complex mental health recover and work towards a brighter future, so they can live a life full of hope.

Here is the difference that your support could make:

✅£10 could help purchase ingredients for one of our baking workshops

✅£25 could contribute towards materials for an art therapy session

✅£50 would support our group wellbeing activities

✅£100 could help fund a beginners' climbing course

Every donation funds activities, groundbreaking care, expands vital resources, and creates opportunities for recovery that once seemed out of reach. Because better care doesn’t just change outcomes - it changes futures.

With your help, we can truly transform lives.