Running for a Healthy & Happy 2024

Hello, I'm Georgia and this is my fundraising page for 2024❤️

I will be running a monthly 10K, at least 3 Half Marathons and 1 Full Marathon to raise money for 3 amazing charities close to my heart; The Martin Gallier Project, BEAT & MIND UK. The money raised will be split across the 3 charities.

I'll be running for a healthy and happy 2024, and to increase the awareness for better mental health, understanding suicide and awareness of eating disorders within the UK.

For those of you who know me well (especially before 2023), know I'm an open book, wear my heart on my sleeve, out going, confident, love a bit of social media and can quite literally talk to a brick wall for hours.

However, this wasn't the case throughout 2023. After a very long, dark and scary 8 months of battling my own mental health, I began to feel slightly more myself again. After 3 months of rest and recovery, lots of support and help, I'm finally back on my feet, there's still a long way to go, but we're on a positive path again❤️

There are many different opinions on mental health and how to support loved ones when they're struggling, however, I have always been a advocate for positive metal health due to smaller cycles in the past, but I never thought I'd go through it all again.

Here's my story and why I am so passionate about fundraising for 3 amazing charities; The Martin Gallier Project, BEAT & MIND UK.

2023 broke me, and I met the worst version of myself, a version I didn't possibly think I was capable of being. I turned into a person my family, my friends and more importantly I didn't recognise. After leaving university in 2022, I struggled with the change, "post university" depression, struggled with weight changes, maintain relationships and not having a structure. I put a lot of pressure on myself that 2023 would "by my year". I had a lot planned, good things to look forward to and a new job. Unfortunately, due to several life changes happening at once, I found it very overwhelming, I struggled to cope and I retuned back home to be with my family, but my mental health got the better of me. For 8 months, I entered a very dark spiral, a very unhealthy, isolating, depressive cycle. I lost my self love, my love for my family and friends, my confidence, my voice, my smile, my warmth and 4.5st. I was mentally and physically drained and couldn’t do any simple things for myself anymore. I completely lost myself, to the point I didn't know how to get myself out of it. I also couldn't run my full marathon for Clatterbridge (which was my aim in 2023), due to my illness and being in hospital, which just broke me further.

Luckily, by mid November, with help from The Martin Gallier Project, I began to to see a change and felt more myself again. I gained a lot of clarity, a greater understanding on how to help myself, and with the support of my amazing family and friends, my smile started to come back, I started to laugh and have normal conversations again, my love for others and self love came back, my voice and confidence slowly came back. I started to enjoy being out with my friends and family again, being comfortable in my natural, ADHD, hyperactive self, accepted me for being me, and forgave myself for the choices I made when in a very bad headspace.

The amount of times my friends and family would try and speak sense into me, and say "you're 22/23, you have your whole life ahead of you", “things happen for a reason” but it doesn't feel like that in the moment. It doesn't feel like that when you are battling with your mental health and dark thoughts day in and day out with no escape. No one prepares you for how scary it is when you loose yourself in a mental health battle, and when you can only vision one outcome. I'm just very grateful I can finally see the other side after 11 months✨

In meeting the worst version of myself in 2023, I've now met the best version of myself in 2024. With the best support network by my side.

I’ve spent the last 3 months, becoming the happiest and healthiest version of myself, a version I didn’t even know could exist and I’m so proud of myself and so thankful for my support❤️ I’m the happiest, most confident, strongest version of myself and it’s going to take a lot to ever knock me back again. There’s been a few niggles in January but nothing I can’t handle

I'm forever grateful to my family and my close friends for being with me every step of the way, my Taid who has quite literally been my guardian angel, old friends for reaching out and new friends for understanding me. I'm so appreciative of the ones who didn't give up on me when I gave up on myself, who were patient and didn't make me feel like a burden or speak ill off me as they understood it was my illness, my mental health battle, not the real G they knew and love.

The Martin Gallier Project raises awareness for suicide and suicide prevention, BEAT raises awareness for eating disorders and MIND raises awareness for mental health. Without any of these charities I wouldn’t have got through a very dark spiral, like many others.

Any kind donations would be really appropriated to help 3 amazing charities❤️

The Plan:

January - Liverpool South 10K ✅ 56:33 (PB)

February - Postponed due to illness

March - Chester 10K ✅ 58:10

April - Postponed due to a trip of a lifetime

May - Chester Half Marathon✅ 2:19.43

June - 10K Jubilee Bridge ✅ 59:19

July - 10K with LB ✅ 1:09.40

Sherwood Pines Half Marathon✅ 2:31.04

August - 10K Southport Seaside✅ 57:02

rearranged: Feb 10K Tattenpark✅ 1:01.14

April 10K Blackpool✅ 1:02.22

September - Cheshire Half ✅ 2:13.41 (PB)

Defeat Delamere 10K ✅ 1:15.32

October - 10K TBC

Chester Marathon ✅ 5:49.08

November - 10K TBC - May 10K rearranged

December - 10K TBC