I’ll be walking 400 miles along the Portuguese Camino de Santiago in May 2024 to raise money for the Sowenna Appeal - a charity that means a lot to me.

Speaking about my past is daunting, but I remember reading a story similar to mine, so I’m sharing some of my experience in the hope of helping at least one other person feel less alone. Mental heath is talked about more, but still not enough, and the reality of mental illness is still hidden.

I was first in contact with mental health services at 13, and most of my teenage memories are clouded by appointments, hospital visits and missing out on ‘normal’ teenage life. After being diagnosed with anorexia, I was admitted to Sowenna, followed by a specialist unit in Hertfordshire. I was very unwell, not yet diagnosed with autism and PTSD, and I experienced things I wouldn’t wish on anyone. My time in hospital was lengthy and miserable, and I often couldn’t see a way out of the self-destructive cycles that had become my normality.

Being sent miles away from home, isolated from my friends, family and support system, only made this more challenging. This is why Sowenna is so important as the only young people’s mental health unit in Cornwall. No child should be sent away from all ‘normality’, especially at such a vulnerable time.

I am incredibly lucky that my family could travel despite the distance, even when it meant driving 10 hours every Saturday to sit in a fenced garden for a 15 minute visit surrounded by staff. I also met my best friend, some incredible young people and staff members who I will remember for life - if any of you are reading this, thank you.

After over a year, and lots of hard work, I returned home and went back to education, which has always been an important part of my life. I finally completed my A Levels and got a place at University. I’m looking forward to starting medical school this September, and fulfilling the dreams that my 14 year old self believed were out of reach.

Of course, there is still work to be done - I am working to accept my autism diagnosis and celebrate my quirks - but I am finally living a life that is not consumed by my illnesses. I can go for a walk without staff members, spend time with my cat Dash, go out for spontaneous lunches, be trusted by my family, and even have a shower without someone watching! To anyone who has experienced mental health units - it is isolating and scary, but you are not alone and there is a future to look forward to.

Whilst at Sowenna, activities provided valuable distraction and I still look back on happy memories of baking with the other young people; weekends in the sports barn; group trips to the local woods in the minivan and hours spent in the sensory room. These added 'extras' are so important, yet rely on funds raised by the Sowenna Appeal to go above and beyond. Supporting Sowenna means young people can be given the care they need and deserve, surrounded by familiarity.

Here’s some more information provided by the Sowenna Appeal:

It is estimated that 1 in 8 young people aged between 5 and 19 have a mental disorder. Most can be treated within the community, but some require a more intensive programme of treatment and care.

Some of Cornwall’s most ill and vulnerable young people have been sent hundreds of miles away from their family and friends to access psychiatric treatment. We are delighted that these young people can now be supported much closer to home at Sowenna, an NHS mental health unit in Bodmin run by Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The unit provides inpatient treatment for young people aged 13-18.

The Sowenna Appeal is raising money for equipment and therapeutic programmes that go above and beyond what the NHS provides. These will aid activities which will have a positive impact on the health, wellbeing and recovery of children and young people in Cornwall such as sports equipment; therapeutic gardens; art, music and cooking equipment; parental accommodation, a minibus and a visitor cafe.

Thank you for reading!

Rach x