All posts by Emma Harvey

APP's Media Advisor, Vicky, is taking on the incredible challenge of trekking Cambodia, alongside her good friend Anya, in aid of APP! Vicky and Anya have chosen different charities but hope together to raise thousands, so have set a minimum target of £1500 each.

Anya and Vicky are doing their 'Centenary Challenge' with Trek Cambodia, who say 'The amazing trekking challenge takes in the stunning jungles and traditional Cambodian villages, finishing at the spectacular ancient ruins of Angkor Wat. Along the way there will be the opportunity to visit a local school and they will spend one very special night with a local family for a home stay.  The challenge will be tough but the friendship and camaraderie along the way will be very special.'

Vicky says 'Please donate whatever you can, every penny makes a difference (and will help keep us motivated as we trek through jungles, cross rivers, battle mosquitos and aching limbs as we trek Cambodia).'

Visit Vicky's Just Giving page here and please donate what you can.

APP wish Vicky and Anya all the best with their training and trekking adventure, and say a very big Thank You!

A big round of applause to the two Laura’s at Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust for organising such a brilliant event on Monday 15^th May to raise awareness about mental health with donations in aid of APP

As part of Mental Health Awareness week, the staff in women's services at Guys & St Thomas’ could take home an amazing ‘Self-Care Goodie Bag’ in return for a suggested donation to charity. The goodie bags included, amongst other gifts and APP leaflets, some gorgeous donated gifts from LUSH, alongside mouth-watering cakes from Print Cakes!

Laura said: “I automatically thought of APP, especially after Ellie and Kat have kindly volunteered their time to assist with our training…Our communications team will be sharing photos from the day on social media and thought again we could share APP love this way.”

And there were indeed some brilliant photos from the day (see below) with some very happy faces from the staff at Guys & St Thomas’!

Laura Costello has since been nominated for an #NHS70 award for the Self Care bags – what a fantastic achievement – vote for Laura here!

And you can still donate via the Go Fund Me page here - thank you.

Thank you so much to everyone involved in organising the day, and for all the hard work involved pulling it all together, we know it takes a lot of time and energy, so a very big THANK YOU from us all at APP!

Huge thanks to Gillian and her daughter, who are busy organising a Charity Cake and Craft Sale on Saturday 16th June, at the West Kirby Library the Concourse in Wirral!

There will be plenty of delicious cakes on sale, as well as a host of craft stalls including calligraphy and watercolour artwork cards and jewellery making! The event will also feature Story Telling sessions with the local writers group, and lots of second hand books for sale as well.

We think this sounds like a really brilliant event, and we hope it’s a great day out for everyone! Thanks to Gillian and everyone who is helping to support this fantastic event.

A big three cheers for Sarah who organised a brilliant cake sale and raffle at her local Jolly Jingles music session on 7th May, as part of our Music 4 Mums initiative in aid of APP!

Sarah has also been extremely busy on the radio with two appearances this week as well! As one of our media volunteers, Sarah was interviewed by Zetland FM (listen again here) as well as on the BBC Tees (listen again here), talking so engagingly about maternal mental health and her own PP experience.

APP say Thank You so much Sarah, what a star!

A very big Thank You to Helen, our second runner in the 2018 Royal Parks Half Marathon! The stunning central London Half is taking place on Sunday 14th October and takes in some of the capital’s world–famous landmarks on closed roads, and four of London’s eight Royal Parks; Hyde Park, The Green Park, St James’s Park and Kensington Gardens.

Helen is running in aid of APP after suffering with PP after the birth of her second son. She says:

"I experienced PP 5 weeks after the birth of my second son, when I was severely sleep deprived from his terrible re-flux. I had no history of mental health issues and awoke one day from a nap into an uncontrollable panic that turned into me being removed from my home by the police and ambulance into a&e....It was a significant struggle to find any service that could support me and my family at a time when Bradford had no specialist perinatal mental health service. It left me bewildered, isolated, frustrated and feeling alone at a time when I had never before been so vulnerable and in need...

My Sister in desperation googled and found APP and got the Guides produced by APP which were invaluable to me understanding my symptoms and knowing recovery was possible. As I began to improve I used the peer support forum to learn more and realise I was not alone in what I was experiencing. APP supported me and my family during a time of terrible upset and their patient information, training, research and awareness raising is invaluable. Perinatal mental health matters. It’s not easy to acknowledge that things can be awful at a time when they are supposed to be joyous.

But the good news is, full recovery is entirely possible and in a weird kind of way, had it not happened, I might not have appreciated my beautiful boys as much as I do, and want to spend the majority of my time with them as I do now.

Help is out there, in the form of APP and all that it is doing for awareness raising towards investment in this neglected and important area of care.

Please give whatever you can in the hope that other new mums can be supported in a time of need."

Visit Helen's Just Giving page here and please donate what you can.

Thanks so much to Helen for taking on this challenge in aid of APP, and we wish you all the very best with your training! 

Warm thanks go to the loyal team of 'Helping Hands' who celebrated Maternal Mental Health Week by organising a charity stall for APP on Saturday 5th May in the Midlands village of Church Gresley. It wasn’t exactly a 'Music4Mums' event but there certainly was a buzzing atmosphere and much humming about what to buy and what delicious food choices to make !

The morning’s efforts raised a total of £410 for APP which was just amazing within the space of a few hours!

Thank you all so much for continuing to promote APP. Thanks also to Corinne Spokes and her network of family and friends who over the past few months have been donating new and nearly new items which certainly helped to swell the coffers. It is no mean feat to load one’s car with bric-a-brac, clothes and toys week after week, but the community in Church Gresley benefited from Corinne’s (and others’) selfless hard work as did its very pretty church which is currently undergoing restoration.

Once again, thank you all - it means so much to our charity and to all women who have suffered or are suffering from PP.