As the first year of the Foundation draws to a close, it is time to reflect on what has been a successful year. Over the year, we have managed to raise awareness of mental health issues, raise our profile and follower numbers and raise some money to help with the fight against mental illness. There have been a number of people to thank for all their help so far in getting us here.

Charlotte Smith:
Charlotte has been one of the main fundraisers this year which includes the £340 that she raised with her partner Dan for their efforts in the Banger Italia 2017 when they took their Top Gun themed banger all the way to Italy to help us raise awareness. She has also been a stalwart of the challenges and took part in the Major Series, Born Survivor, Total Warrior and is still aiming for 2017 miles in 2017! She’s been a great support and has taken on every challenge put in front of her like Wonder Woman!
Alice-Claire Howard:
Alice-Claire raised £252 by taking on the York 10km run on 6 August. She smashed the course in 59 minutes and 20 seconds breaking the hour mark. What a fantastic effort with an amazing time and great piece of fundraising. Here she is triumphantly crossing the finishing line.

Thanks for your help in getting us started.

Maddy Powell and Gemma Pamment:
Maddy and Gemma raised an amazing £781 for their efforts in the Shakespeare 10km run on 11 November. They took on the two 5km lap course and finished in 1 hour 6 minutes which is a great effort. Their fundraising was even better though as their efforts nearly hit the £800 mark which is a fantastic achievement. A special mention also has to go to Maddy’s nephew Daniel James who did the 1km fun run on the same day and finished 4th! Well done Daniel!

Cath and Jason Charlesworth:
When Cath and Jason tied the knot on 22 July, they asked for their friends to donate the money to charity rather than give them wedding presents. The money raised was split between Macmillan and the Foundation and we receive a whopping £790. Thanks to Cath and Jason for their generosity and also to all of those who contributed to the total. You are all wonderful!

Thanks also go to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation who donated £291 and to Tech Search Associates as their Finance and Business Support teams donated their prize of £1400 for Team of the Year to us which was a generous gesture.

Thank you to all of those who have blogged for us this year (and if anyone wants to going forward – get in touch) and to all of those who have helped us spread our message. Thanks to Gemma Cooper, Jan Underwood, Neil Vary and Ally Onions for the generous quotes that they have let us use and also to Jayne Hardy of the Blurt Foundation for all her help and support.

All the help and support that we have received this year has been greatly appreciated. Thank you all and much love