This is my first Berlin marathon, having done 3 London marathons before, always running for a charity.

I have always raised money for eye-related charities before, but this time the cause is even more up close and personal. One in four people will experience a mental illness in their lifetime. I have seen mental illness from so many angles during my lifetime, both in my private and professional life. When I was younger, I never understood this multi-faceted illness and, like many others, labelled it as a sign of weakness that I could not tolerate or explain. How wrong I was! And coming from a professional world where research and technology have enabled us to provide our ophthalmic patients with wonderful (and sometimes very expensive) treatment options, people with mental problems and those working to help them are completely underfunded, often unsupported and certainly not glorified for their jobs.

This is why I ask you to donate to this important charity - to help them continue delivering life-changing support for everyone affected by severe mental illness. With the right treatment and support, people can - and often do - recover.

Every little bit of support helps:

• £10 could help fund a local support group

• £25 could help fund the advice and information service

• £50 could help us bring the voice of people living with severe mental illness to government, to influence policy and legislation

** Thank you for supporting my run and my cause, but even more for supporting Rethink Mental Illness, and every single person that they encounter on the tough dark journey of mental illness **

Ps. 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 charity. If you do not manage to donate via this website, please do contact me separately.