Ash's Epic Challenge

Do you want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money in aid of Survivors In Transition and every donation will help. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

In January 2018 I found out that a close family member was convicted of possession and distribution of online child sexual abuse. This came as a massive shock to me, and as I have 2 small children of my own I was obviously very upset and disturbed but I had no idea how much this would affect my life. 

I tried to carry on with my life as normally as I could, but it was on my mind constantly. It started to affect my personal relationships, especially with my wife and my family, as well as work and social occasions. At this point I realised I was suffering from depression. 

I started to see a therapist which helped me deal with some of the issues and get myself back to a level of normality, but disagreements with some of my family, and an underlying feeling of helplessness for not being able to do anything about what had happened sent me back into depression and caused me to have a breakdown. 

This was a massive wake up call, I realised I was going to have to do something drastic to get on top of how I was feeling. I have done some fundraising in the past and decided that I could try raise some money for a worthwhile charity. After doing some research I discovered Survivors in Transition (SIT), a local charity that helps people that have been victims of child sexual abuse. 

Once I had spoken to them I then had to plan what I was going to do. I started off thinking I could do 4 or 5 challenges over the year, that grew to maybe trying to do 1 a month and then I thought as its 2020, why not set myself a huge challenge and aim to do at least 20 events over the year! 

I am not setting myself a target amount as I will be collecting sponsorship all year, so anything you can do to help will be greatly appreciated. If you think you have a different way to support my challenge or the charity then please get in touch. 

This has affected me, my family and my friends massively. Finding out a person so close to you is capable of committing these despicable crimes is devastating. I cannot begin to imagine the lifelong effects these horrendous crimes have on the survivors of such abuse. Please sponsor me to help SIT help the people who really need it. 

More information about Survivors In Transition: Survivors in Transition (SiT) have been providing the only specialist support for male and female survivors (18+) of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA), exploitation or violence in Suffolk since 2010. Through targeted, trauma informed activities including one to one and group therapy, counselling, advocacy, legal advice, research, training and education we have empowered over 3000 survivors in a variety of ways to improve self esteem and resilience.