Hello. My name is Ellie. At the time of writing, I am 16 years 11 months and 26 days old (so nearly 17). Me and my dad have decided to do a crazy walk to raise money for the Autism Dogs Charity, who are providing me with a service dog, a furry friend, to help me get through life.

I am very fortunate to currently be studying maths, further maths and physics at the University of Liverpool Maths School (ULMaS), and I love it there. It’s full of people like me.

It hasn’t always been easy though. At 14 I was admitted to Ancora House in Chester – an inpatient mental health unit, and I have had a further two admissions since.

I attended Alsager High School until the end of year 10, where I then had to move to a SEMHN (special educational mental health needs) school at Castle Park in Frodsham – it was the community site for the education team that worked in Ancora House. I ended up sitting my actual GCSEs in hospital during my second admission, but somehow, with the incredible support of everyone around me, in and outside of hospital, managed to get the grades I need to attend ULMaS in y12.

That is a very brief summation of my journey so far – I have met some amazing people in my darkest times, superheroes without capes who I wouldn’t be here without. I am incredibly lucky to have the support that I have had, but the outside world is still scary.

I am autistic, and that means that my brain works a little differently. Sounds are louder, smells are stronger, communication is harder. I struggle to identify when I am getting stressed, often until its too late. I still struggle with “meltdowns” and self – harm and going to noisy and unfamiliar places is especially hard.

I plan to study maths at university, and live away from home, which currently I would not find possible. We spent lots of time thinking about this – I currently travel a long way to college and have a teaching assistant Nick, who is amazing, to help me and it works well. But living alone safely, needing to go into a shop to buy food, being able to calm myself down, noticing when I need to stop and have a break, gaining my independence, is very different.

We currently have an amazing Labradoodle called Scooby, who is incredible and has helped to get me through the toughest years of my life so far. But he can’t come to university with me. He is “just” our goofy family dog. That’s where Lyra comes in.

We found out about Autism Dogs Charity just before Christmas - an amazing charity who help autistic people and their families through the love and support of Autism Assistance Dogs. Their assistance dog programme provides the autistic person with a bespoke highly trained assistance dog which is expertly profiled to them, and trained to help them cope with their daily challenges, together with a specialist programme of human support.

These amazing dogs are life changing for an autistic person and their family, but the cost of raising and training a dog is £23,000. The charity funds part of this but the cost to the handler is £15,000, which sadly is financially beyond a lot of autistic people in need.

We applied to join the assistance dog programme in December last year and I am incredibly grateful to have been matched with Lyra. She is a golden retriever crossed with a border collie crossed with practically every other dog ever. At the time of writing Lyra is 10 months old and just beginning highly specialist training in the tasks that she will carry out daily to help me navigate the world. We have a lot of work to do together, and so much to learn together before she comes home to live with us in the Summer. I can’t wait to begin our training!

We have been very very lucky to have received 2 charitable donations towards the cost of Lyra, one of which was completely anonymous. However not many people who need an assistance dog are so fortunate and really struggle to raise the funds. So, I decided that I would do a fund raiser to raise money for the charity, to help those people who are not as fortunate as me. I have always struggled with my self worth and still wonder why on earth I deserve a dog, let alone the funds towards one. I have seen the struggle that so many young people face first hand – the friends I made in hospital, at my school in Frodsham. The walk is my way of trying to help others, even if its only small. To show them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if that light is slightly furry and likes sticks and licking you.

We plan to walk a total of 75 miles, nearly 3 marathons in 3 days. The route will be a representation of my journey so far, starting in Alsager, where I live and went to school until Y11. Then up to Ancora House in Chester, where I stayed as an inpatient all three times. Then to Castle Park in Frodsham, where I finished Y11, the place that taught me grades don’t mean everything. And finally, finishing at the ULMaS, my current college. The place that accepted me for who I am, a place where I am thriving, even with some wobbles along the way.

We hope to meet some of the amazing people I have worked with along the way, the people who have kept me alive. It’s my way of reflecting and saying thank you to everyone who has gotten me to where I am today. They really are superheroes without capes.

And lastly, the final part of my waffle. I will be walking with my dad. The man who has never failed to make me laugh at my darkest time. The strange person who gets me smiling when my world feels like it is falling apart. We do, and always have done, a lot of walking and hiking together, more so since I have been in hospital. When he came to visit, we would walk around the country park outside of the hospital with Scooby, go and get a hot chocolate and a cup of tea in the Oak Tree pub, and walk back. Even on the nights I couldn’t talk, he would still manage to make me laugh as we were walking. I wouldn’t be here without my mum or my dad.

My mum isn’t as keen on walking 75 miles as we are, funnily enough, so she is going to be our support team. The snack server, the blister plaster provider, the motivational mum we will need at our pit stops. Together we have gotten through some very wobbly times.

Healing is a marathon, not a sprint. Together, with the help of my superheroes, we will get through three, with smiles and dad probably falling over at some point. Together.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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