My name is Holly, I’m 23 years old and I hail from West Cumbria.

From my early teens, I’ve struggled with my mental health. For 10+ years I’ve battled Generalised Anxiety Disorder, and into my late teens and early twenties, I’ve fought with depression and suicidal thoughts. I found it hard to talk about, hard to explain or put into words - and I spent a lot of my years feeling alienated, extremely alone and trapped inside my own head.

In 2021, I started my journey to treating my symptoms. I trialled medications, cognitive therapies and mindfulness, all while still not knowing how to best talk about it with my family or friends, not knowing if they would understand.

Last year, I reached a low point and had scary thoughts of ending my own life. I was too scared to reach out to 999, so I called Samaritans instead. I talked on the phone for over an hour, slowly sorting through my thoughts and feelings until I finally felt stable enough to hang up and take care of myself. They helped to save my life that night.

Since then, I’ve improved gradually in so many ways. I’ve been more social, I’ve tried new things, and I tapped into what helped clear my head and bring me peace the most; the outdoors. Being up on the Fells, or out by the Lakes felt like a miracle escape from my real life and my headspace that was invaluable at the time - and very much still is.

I’m taking part in the Skiddaw by Sunrise event, organised by Global Adventure Challenges and fundraising for Samaritans, to give back to the charity that so selflessly helped me, but to help them keep helping others, and raising awareness about struggles with mental health and wellbeing.

If you can spare even a small amount of pocket change to help me hit my initial £500 goal for this fundraiser, you’ll be supporting a cause which has saved hundreds of lives and supported many, many more throughout its lifetime and it should be able to do so for many years to come.

I am also promising to match 50% of my total donations collected to put towards the final amount Samaritans will recieve.

Thank you for any donations and support, let’s tackle Skiddaw for a hell of a great cause!