Hiya :) I am Sophie, a final-year student at Swansea Uni and I am running the half marathon for the university in June. I am running for the charity "Making Strides" which is a mental health charity. This charity is very close to my heart as personally, I have struggled massively with my mental health throughout my time at university. I am a healthcare student and the extra stresses of placement as well as assignments have meant that at times, my mental health was neglected. There have also been times during my degree when I have had to miss out on placement due to a lack of support for my mental health.

I thought that my mental health would never get better but then luckily for me, the university ended up referring me to a specialist. The treatment that I received was life-changing and I would not have made it to my final year if this hadn't been available to me. I still struggle with my mental health but I now have the support and tools around me to not let it impact my life as negatively as it used to.

I know that I was extremely lucky to get the support that I did and unfortunately, not everyone gets the opportunity to receive this. With the NHS being underfunded in their mental health resources, it can often take months or years before people's mental health is taken seriously. I am hoping to raise money to potentially change someone's life, giving them the opportunity to receive the treatment and support that they need.

Thank you for reading this far and if you could help out at all I would be extremely grateful :)