Please help me raise £1000 for MIND

[Snowglobe]

Good Luck John.

Donation sent

[johnofford30]

Thank you very much Peter, really appreciate it and that’s very kind of you.

 

Best wishes,

 

 

John

[Hopman]

John's page is at :

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnOfford

 

He's now at 60% of his target.

[johnofford30]

Thanks for sharing that

[johnofford30]

It's #TimeToTalk Day! Wherever you are, you can talk about mental health. Start a conversation and end the silence:

 

It was 5 years to the day that my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was told he had 4 weeks left to live. I remember driving my father back home, the silence in the car will stay with me forever. My brother, Anthony who had a mental illness took it particularly badly and ended up collapsing at a friends flat a few weeks later.

 

A mix up by Yorkshire Ambulance Service meant my brother didn’t get immediate medical attention as there was a delay in dispatching an ambulance to the scene. When Anthony finally arrived at the Northern General hospital, he was sent to intensive care. When my mum and I reached the ward, we were called into a room where the doctor said that Anthony had irreversible brain damage, caused by a starvation of oxygen to the brain and that there was nothing they could do.

 

Anthony passed away 2 days later when the life support system was switched off. We went home to my dad to tell him that his son had died. It’s hard to put into words how we were feeling, except to say that we felt detached from the reality of the situation. Despite the doctor saying in early February that my father only had 4 weeks left to live, he remained alive until the 8th May, 2013 - the day of my brothers funeral. I find this a truly powerful testament of the human spirit.

 

An inquest followed and the coroner said it was ‘more likely than not’ that Anthony ‘would have survived’ if he’d been given prompt treatment. Since then, I’ve campaigned to ensure mistakes like this never happen again and it was taken all the way to the House of Commons. Sadly, this wasn’t a one off, as this Guardian article touched on when writing about my brother and the effects of government cut backs; https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/may/22/ambulance-delays-linked-to-35-deaths-in-past-five-years

 

It’s taken me 5 years to make sense of it and it’s only now that I can take something positive from something negative and finally look at this photo again. It’s why I’m ready to run my first ever half marathon this year to honour my brother and to raise awareness of mental health issues and the fact that no one should have to suffer alone. If you can help me raise my target of £1000 by sharing this post and/or donating anything (even £1 would help), you can do so here;

 

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnOfford

 

Thank you to Ben, Sam, Angela, Vincent, Becky, Zack, Karen, Maddy, Faith, Richard, Nancy, Claire, Sarah, Julie, Peter and many others that have already donated, it is very much appreciated. I should say that I hope to run in memory of my dad next year and to raise money for the fantastic charity, Beating Bowel cancer.

 

I decided to tell my story on here to raise awareness of mental health, not for self pity. Everyone has a story to tell and life can be tough for all of us at times, but it can also be great too. x

[johnofford30]

My official t-shirt has finally arrived! I can’t quite believe that I’m going to be running a half marathon next month. I managed 9 miles the other week, although still much more training to be done.

 

I want to say a massive thank you to everyone that has donated so far. I’ve been overwhelmed by the response I've had since posting my story below. I’ve currently raised £1,364.20 out of my £2000 target. I just need to raise a further £635.80 before the Sheffield Half marathon on the 8th April.

 

For anyone that doesn’t know, I’m running my first ever half marathon in memory of my brother and for a mental health charity next month. You can donate here if you want to (and even £1 will help);

 

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/johnofford

 

Click the link below to see how your donation could give someone hope and help them understand they're not alone;

 

https://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/donate-or-fundraise/donate/

 

Thanks again

[lindylou53]

Happy to donate to you John for this worthwhile cause! Good luck - will be thinking of you on the day:)

[johnofford30]

Thank you so very much Linda - I can't do this without people like you and what a generous donation- you've really made my day.

 

Thank you so much and this will make a real difference to people with mental health problems. I can't thank you enough.

 

---------- Post added 03-03-2018 at 10:41 ----------

 

Just to say I managed to run 10 miles today so thanks again everyone.

 

---------- Post added 05-03-2018 at 23:17 ----------

 

I'm now up to £1,515.70 thanks to everyones kind donations. Thanks again everyone!

 

If you have a £1 to spare, here's the link to my story....

 

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnOfford

 

---------- Post added 11-03-2018 at 17:04 ----------

 

I'm happy to say I'm now at £1,640.70...thanks again to everyone that has donated!

[johnofford30]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU...........

 

I'm literally in shock right now, some kind anonymous soul from Sheffield Forum has just donated £500 (£625 including gift aid) to my page below! If you are reading this, thank you so very much. I wish I could thank you in person. Every contribution, no matter how large or small, makes a difference!

 

I'm running the Sheffield Half marathon in memory of my brother on the 8th April and to raise money for the mental health charity, Mind.

 

Read my story here...

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnOfford

 

My Radio Sheffield interview here (9 mins in);

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05yr9z2

Edited March 24, 2018 by johnofford30

[Aribanne]

Done ! Good luck !