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27 miles in 27 days - rasing money for MIND
Best foot forward to aid mental health
Student Courtney Barr will be running 27 miles in 27 days to raise money for students’ mental health. By GABBY BERGONZI
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Looking after students’ mental health at university is a top priority. With exam stress, financial stress and all the other worries, it is so important to support each other to make sure everyone’s mental health stays stable.
Courtney Barr, 21, from Manchester is a student at John Moores University who truly understands the struggles of mental health.
She will be running 27 miles in 27 days with Strava and Spotify to raise £200 for mental health charity MIND to 27 miles over 27 days in solidarity with every student struggling with their mental health.
MIND is a charity who provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.
Courtney knows the struggles of how it feels to feel low during university. She said: “Mental health can be a silent torture. It has the power to isolate and steal any happiness from things that once brought you joy. Studies have shown that 1 in 5 students suffer from a mental health problem. Let’s end the stigma and beat mental health together.”
Physical activity such as running has a huge impact on our mental wellbeing. It can help to increase our self-esteem and can reduce stress and anxiety. It also plays a role in preventing the development of mental health problems and in improving the quality of life of people experiencing poor mental health. Knowing this, Courtney decided that a sponsored run would be an effective way to help support such an important cause.
“University can be a stressful time. Even though it is full of amazing memories and fun, the pressure of exams and Uni work can get on top of you. Even though I am not the best runner, I am practising every day in preparation for this. I feel so passionate about changing the stigma of mental health.”
According to UCAS, over the last decade there has been a significant shift in the willingness of students to talk about their mental health – the number of UK applicants to UCAS that shared a mental health condition has increased by 450% in this time. Their most recent report showed 3.7% of all UK applicants declared a mental health condition in their application to study in 2020 – up from 0.7% in 2011. UCAS also discovered that women are 2.2 times more likely to declare a mental health condition than men.
A University of Liverpool student who donated £10 to the cause said: “It makes me so happy to see fellow students coming together to support our mental health. I am so proud of Courtney for doing this – she will smash it.”
Go to Givepenny.com and simply choose how much to donate and sponsor Courtney’s challenge. In return, you can choose any track on Spotify to add to Courtney’s playlist, which she will listen to during her run.
Courtney Barr from Manchester Photo: Courtney Barr
Running along the seafront Photo: Unsplash.com FACTS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH:
• 1 in 6 adults experience a common mental health problem, such as anxiety or depression
• 1 in 5 adults have considered taking their own life at some point
• Suicide was the leading cause of death for males and females aged between five to 34 in 2019
• 1 in 5 people have suicidal thoughts
• 1 in 14 people self-harm
• Women are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and make suicide attempts than men
• But men are 3 times more likely to take their own life than women
All statistics from Mind.org.uk
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