Lisa Ferguson

This February, I am taking on the 28 Miles in February challenge to raise vital funds for Mental Health UK.

Whether I am walking, running, cycling, wheeling, or even skipping, hopping, and jumping, my goal is to cover 28 miles over the month. On the particularly tough days, I might even be crawling on a bad day, but I am determined to reach the finish line and hit my £100 fundraising target.

Why I am Fundraising:

Since 75% of mental health conditions develop before the age of 18, early intervention is vital. Our youth programmes are designed to empower 14–18-year-olds, providing them with the essential skills and resilience needed to navigate life’s many transitions. We deliver these services through two key initiatives: Bloom, which is run in partnership with schools and colleges, and Your Resilience, which supports young people within community and non-educational settings. Mental health challenges do not discriminate; they can affect anyone, including young children. From Anxiety and Depression to ADHD, OCD, and PTSD, the spectrum of struggle is so broad. Often, the signs in children are hard to spot they may present as frequent tantrums, intense irritability, physical pains like stomach-aches, or a sudden disinterest in friends and school, these are even more difficult to spot when your children are already diagnosed or on the waiting list to be assessed for Special Need.

Our Story:

This cause is incredibly close to my heart because of my family's journey. When my eldest son was just six, we didn't yet recognise the signs of his struggle. He suffered from night terrors, extreme post-school exhaustion, and angry stimming. Most heartbreakingly, he would come home and tell us that he "I'm not worth it", that "nobody likes me", and even that "he shouldn't be here". This was the Turning Point for us: Because where we stand, he and my younger son are EVERYTHING to us, and he was clearly just a number in a long line at school. Recognising he needed a different environment, I made the decision to withdraw him from Mainstream school to begin home education. Since then, he has flourished into a confident, independent, and respectful young person with wonderful self-esteem. While it was a difficult path to take, it was undoubtedly the right one. But it isn't just my son who was suffering; my husband was experiencing similar mental health issues, but it wasn't until a few years later that they came to light in a huge panic attack. Mental health continues to be a priority in our family as there are many people close to us who have experienced some form of mental health issue.