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Raquel’s ChangeMaker story

Hi my name is Raquel, I am Grassroots ChangeMaker

I got in touch with Grassroots about a year and a half after the loss of my sister. The idea of fundraising and helping a suicide prevention and awareness charity had been brewing in my mind for a while after a failed attempt at grief counselling and because I wanted to do something to help others affected by suicide as it’s such a traumatic thing to experience.

Grassroots stood out to me head and shoulders above the rest

An internet search led me to a number of charities and Grassroots stood out to me head and shoulders above the rest. I was really impressed with their approach and the Stay Alive app they had developed. The clincher was that they are Brighton based.

I felt very helpless after my sisters death and fundraising has been my way of doing something positive with my grief. But it’s also been so much more. I’m so glad I chose a local charity to me because I’ve met lots of new people local to me, through the Grassroots social and training events. Because we share a similar past experience of loosing a loved one in this way, I feel comfortable talking about my sister, knowing it’s a safe place to do that.

Being involved with Grassroots has made me feel more connected with our community

The fundraising I chose to do centres around running and physical activity as I believe this is so important for your mental health and well-being and there are so many amazing and fun events out there to take part in. I’ve done so many different events including mud runs, triathlons, bike rides and family fun runs as I want to include my family and anyone else that’s interested in joining me! I joined a local running group called Runpals to get fit for the events and I’ve made so many new friends. There’s always a pal doing one of my fundraising events and it’s lovely to have that support so the social side has been great.

I’m proud to raise money for Grassroots

I think the staff at Grassroots are incredible and I’m so glad they were my chosen charity. The more involved with them I become the more I am impressed with the work they do. I’m proud to raise money for Grassroots to help them train and educate people in our society to reduce preventable deaths and I think my sister would have been proud of me too.

Follow my journey

If you would like to follow my fundraising journey, I have a blog called ‘Raquel’s 40 Race Challenge‘ that records the highs and lows and a few other things thrown in!

Learn more about becoming a ChangeMaker here:

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Did you know 1 in 5 people will have suicidal thoughts at some point in their lives?

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