A charity gala and my first Christmas dinner

OK, so it was vegetarian and smothered in tomato sauce rather than gravy, but I had my first Christmas dinner of the year last night at a wonderful even hosted by Anxious Minds North East  – a charity that I am proud to be a trustee of.

And I want to shout about these guys.

Eddie and Kath run the charity, and they have helped hundreds of people with depression and anxiety-related disorders over the last couple of years. And Eddie has a really inspiring back-story, that you can read more about here.

But Eddie and Kath want to do even more – to help people who are on waiting lists for therapy, or who would benefit from peer support or mindfulness classes.

So their charity gala was a fundraiser to increase awareness and, of course, charitable income.

And they’ve done a pretty good job at taking things to the next level. This tiny charity with a big reach and an even bigger heart now boasts Denise Welch as patron and welcomed the BBC’s fabulous Anna Foster as event host. Both were lovely as always, sharing their own brave stories and entertaining the audience.

Anxious Minds have many more people behind them too, providing voluntary support in whatever way they can, be it through design, PR, web development, filming, business mental health expertise, running marathons or climbing mountains!

But imagine how far this young yet already multi award-winning charity could go. How many more people they could help through counselling and peer support.

So yes, this is a blatant plug for the charity. But please take a look at their website. There are tonnes of useful resources, stories, case studies, films and details of how they can help people living with anxiety and related illnesses.

And for those who feel they can spare a few pennies, you can donate directly via this link.

So, not my most well-written post, but I am feeling rather broken this morning. And my fish finger sandwich hasn’t done the trick this time. I’ll be laying off the Peroni tonight I reckon.