Hi Everyone,

May is international Mental Health Awareness month, and it's also national walking month, May 10th Lupus awareness day, and as you may be aware I’ve lived with a diagnosis of Lupus since 2018, and since then with linked diseases of Sjogren’s, Raynaud’s, and Fibromyalgia. To say that it has seriously impacted my mental wellness would be a massive understatement, especially since some symptoms of the illnesses are depression, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, hallucinations, cognitive impairment, memory loss and more. Many people who are chronically ill experience mental ill health, as both a symptom and effect of their illness.

Recently I've been saying I don't have time to recharge and care for my mental health. There's so much evidence to support the link between physical and mental wellness, and knowing that stress can trigger a lupus flare, taking care of my whole self should be a priority, so I need to make the time! So here we are, I’m challenging myself to walk A Mile a day during the month of May.

May was also my Nan birthday month; she worked for decades as a psychiatric nurse. Although she passed almost 20 years ago, and retired while I was in my late teens, I remember how she valued and tried to care for the marginalised in society. She practised inclusion, taught me the importance of nurture and how receiving practical support was fundamental to living a good quality of life. I remember that one of her favourite sayings was “charity begins at home”, and therefore I’ve decided to support a grass-roots charity Hear Us who are an adult mental health charity operating in Croydon where I live; and who recently let me join their team – lucky me!

Hear Us ensure that people living with mental ill health have access to financial assistance like PIP, Universal Credit and Foodbank referrals by helping them to complete applications, attend assessments with them, help with appeals and support with tribunals. The staff and volunteers visit in-patient wards at mental health hospitals, advocate for people there, and challenge coercive medical practices. They raise awareness and help to reduce stigma around mental ill health by campaigning at government level and sharing their lived experiences with organisations such as the police. Lastly and my personal favourite part is they tackle the issue of isolation by hosting inclusive creative sessions where people can write poetry, paint and do other wonderful things. For someone living with mental ill health these types of support services are lifesaving; the difference between eating or not, facing homelessness or not, having a reason to keep going or not.

Please help me to support them to continue their good work by helping me reach my goal of raising £250.