Great North Run 5 October 2008

I'm doing the Great North Run 2008 for a charity called NIWE Eating Distress Service with whom I've been volunteering for over 2 years now. It's a charity whose aims are close to my heart because I had an eating disorder for several years. Many people are not aware of how serious eating problems can be and there is still a great deal of stigma attached to them, just as there is with other mental health problems. At best eating disorders can dominate and take over someone's ability to get on with their life at their worst they kill: Anorexia has the highest death rate of any mental illness and between 5% and 20% of people who develop the disease eventually die from it.

NIWE Eating Distress Service has been in existence for over 20 years now and through that time has supported many women and men in the North of England, both those with an eating problem as well as their friends and families.

NIWE Eating Distress Service helps people understand why they have developed an eating problem and explore how they might change their behaviour. NIWE provides this support through a telephone helpline and through support groups run by trained counsellors. NIWE runs its services on a very small budget and we are limited in what we can do because of this. I want to raise as much money as I can for NIWE because I know the need is there and that help at the right time can really make a difference. If you do sponsor me it will go directly to providing services.