Sally Oliver

Why I support Mind.

Like many of you, over the years I have witnessed the destructive and often heartbreaking effect mental health problems can have on people, their families and friends. Mental distress has changed and shaped the lives of some of the people I care about most in the world. When I heard about Mind and what they do I felt a strong desire to help in anyway I could.

That’s why I am competing in the Great South Run for Mind. 

Raising funds to help Mind run services and campaign on issues such as access to talking treatments is vital. But I also feel passionately about changing public attitudes towards mental health issues. 

Mind and Time To Change’s campaigns are brilliant and something every child in every school should be educated on. Just because you have experienced mental health problems, shouldn’t mean you have to live under a shadow and in fear. We need to challenge the stigma attached to mental health problems that can have a terrible impact on individuals and their families. Even if you don’t know about it, I can guarantee that everyone will know someone who has experienced a mental health problem at some point in their lives. Mental distress is indiscriminate and can suddenly appear at any time – 1 in 4 of us will be affected at some point in our lives. 

I am so proud to be representing Mind at the Great South Run. My training for the big race has been a bit up and down! I used to be really regimented about my times and distances, but I found it very difficult to keep up and in the end really started to resent running. Now I only run when I truly want to, paying no attention to time or distance and funnily enough I’ve started to adore it. I find the exercise really relaxing and use it as meditation. 

If you are thinking about participating in an event for Mind or maybe making a donation, please do it! You couldn’t give your time or money to a more relevant, life changing charity. Life can be difficult, but Mind’s work is making a real difference to people. 

Sally Oliver is an actress who has appeared in shows such as Emmerdale and Holby City. You can donate to support Mind here.

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