When I found out about the Laura Hyde Foundation and what it stood for, I HAD to be involved and do something to help raise awareness. The Laura Hyde Foundation was set up in memory of Laura Hyde, who sadly took her own life back in 2016. Laura had been suffering depression and battling her mental health when it all got too much for her. Laura was always so bubbly, full of laughter and our last conversation was a couple of years before her passing talking about meeting up. I went to secondary school with Laura, her birthday was exactly a month before mine and its heart breaking that she felt she had no one to turn to in her darkest hour.
The Laura Hyde Foundation is all about caring for those who care for us, to help the members of the emergency services with the mental health care that they need and so readily give to us when we are suffering. So I thought long and hard about what I could do to give back, keep her memory and spread the awareness of mental health. Myself I have suffered with mental health, and made an attempt on my life in secondary school, in which Laura was a huge part of the recovery by switching classes and finally gaining some friends in school. I first thought of a fitness challenge from Swindon (our hometown) to Plymouth (where Laura was based in the Royal Navy) which was around 160 miles but that could be easily achievable.
I was about to travel to Houston, Texas to compete internationally at the YAMI finals with my 8 week old, and that really put it in perspective for me of how precious life was, and then came the challenge. What if we biked the distance between Swindon to Houston Texas! The challenge was set to collect as many miles as possible between now until the 10th October which is World Mental Health Day opening the challenge to anyone, anywhere to add as many miles as they could!
It was a slow start getting people to bike the miles, and of course not everyone bikes or goes to a gym (bikes were the easiest to get the most miles in a short amount of time) so I opened the challenge to anything physical, as long as you could track it! From taking the dogs to a walk, your daily steps, even horse riding!! Taking the challenge to walk to work instead of use the car. Mental health can affect you anywhere and this is where the challenge opened up so many avenues!
Soon the miles were coming in, from climbing up mountains to teaching classes! Exercise helps release those endorphins and help mental health, of course its not the answer to depression and anxiety but every little helps. So reading this, how can you help with the challenge?
The challenge is to collect as many miles as you can. If you are walking or collecting steps, check how many you have done (for iPhone you can go into your health app or fitbit etc) and post in the event. The same goes for running and cycling apps. If you are in the gym, take a picture of the machine after you have finished. Even if you have only done half a mile, every little mile counts towards the bigger picture! Grab your friends and try and challenge each other! Myself, Miss Divine Wiltshire and Young European International Miss Wiltshire took to Nuffield Health and held our own spin session, collecting 30 miles in half an hour!
Thanks to everyone we are past the 1000 mark but we still have over 3000 miles to go before October so please share, invite, grab as many miles as you can so we can hit this amazing landmark! Sometimes its as easy as taking a few steps, just like taking control of your mental health.
If you would like to know more about the Laura Hyde Foundation please check out their website here:
http://laurahydefoundation.org/
And to add your miles (or kms) to the event please add them here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/608455836200273/
Let's do this for Laura
Lots of Love
Your Young European International Ms Hannah Golding
x <3 x
It's ok to not be ok <3
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