20 in 2020

Why?

Why… …am I doing this?

Having racked my brains for which cause to support, I finally settled on SANE and SANE Australia. Many of the organized events that I will be taking part in are for specific causes such as the Cancer charities, Mito, Headspace, Dementia and Active8Change – which is great because my entry fees will go towards these causes. However, my main fundraising effort will be for SANE and SANE Australia.

Although the Australian and UK charities are not affiliated, they do very similar work in their respective countries. They campaign for su***de prevention and reducing the stigma around mental health issues. Both charities offer peer support and helpline support for those going through complex mental health challenges, and campaign for better representation of mental ill-health in the media. They fund research, and campaign to increase employment of those facing mental health challenges, also providing information and resources to employers in order to better support them. There is still an awful lot of stigma around mental ill-health, and even by raising awareness and speaking about these issues it chips away at that, and may go someway to helping someone who is struggling.

I personally lost my father to su***de at a very young age, and spent a lot of time being angry. Not really understanding the situation from his perspective, instead just concentrating on my own pain. If there had have been more awareness at the time, and opportunity to discuss the issues that led him to su***de, not only would there have been a semblance of hope that he would have gotten help before ending his life - I might have healed a lot quicker myself in the aftermath of that particular tragedy.

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