Why am I walking 25 miles through London?
To raise awareness/reduce stigma of mental health & to raise funds to enable Borderline to continue with their work:
Borderline uses the arts to raise awareness of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), campaigns for BPD treatment, & educates/trains professionals about how to effectively relate to & help those with BPD.
I've lived with mental health issues for about 20 years. I try to stay positive & fight the symptoms, but at times the illness takes over and it all becomes too much. At many such times, I've attempted suicide out of sheer desperation to escape the inner torture. Several attempts led me to being treated in ICU. I was lucky to survive. Having BPD treatment would have likely prevented such episodes, which caused trauma not only to me, but also to my family & friends.
But there is NO BPD treatment in Derby, despite the fact that it decreases & prevents criseses, self-harm, suicide attempts & tragic deaths. Without treatment, 1 in 10 people with BPD commit suicide. I have come very close to being the '1' in those statistics. I also lost a friend to suicide a few years ago, which was undescribably devastating.
By sponsoring me to do this 25 mile NIGHT walk through London, you will:
- Help us raise awareness/reduce stigma of mental health & suicide
- Help CLASP to set up a much needed helpline to support those in emotional distress
- Help raise money to enable Borderline to put on exhibitions, performances & other events to raise awareness/reduce stigma of BPD specifically.
- Help raise money to enable Borderline to run educational workshops for Health and Social professionals in order increase understanding and improve treatment that mental health sufferers receive
- Help raise money to enable Borderline to effectively campaign to get BPD treatment in Derby City: There currently is NONE available!
Just a small donation can make a huge difference and will help improve, & may even save lives!
