Kate Stevenson-Pugh's hair shave for Action on Postpartum Psychosis! Kate developed postpartum psychosis after the birth of her first baby. Following the head shave, Kate said ‘Action on Postpartum Psychosis is such an important charity for women affected by PP and recovering. I’m absolutely thrilled that the total raised so far is up to just over £1,380 with gift aid. My hair is gone and my ears are chilly!’ Kate’s fundraiser has done a fantastic job of raising awareness, as well as funds, through her JustGiving page, which you can still visit and donate to here. Thank you Kate for your support of APP and to all who have donated. If you have been inspired, we would love to support any fundraising ideas you have. Get in touch with us here. Dominic's TikTok live stream to support APP A huge thank you goes to Dominic Bamber, who a year and a half after skydiving for APP, organised a TikTok live stream event and video challenges on 1st January 2021 to raise awareness and money to support APPs work. Dominic is a committed supporter of APP and has a sister who was affected by the illness, so the charity is close to his heart. You can find a link to Dominic’s TikTok page here. Dominic’s fundraiser has done a fantastic job of raising awareness, as well as funds, through his JustGiving page, which you can still visit and donate to here. If you have been inspired by Dominic, APP would love to support any fundraising ideas you have. Get in touch by email. Support APP this festive season We would like to thank you for your support this year. 2020 has been a difficult year for many people. Separation from family and friends has been a challenge for us all, but isolation and lack of support has been particularly hard for pregnant women, new parents and those recovering from postpartum psychosis (PP). Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, APP’s priority has been to support women and families who need us. We’ve concentrated on: providing high-quality peer support; setting up new services to help people connect during this time; signposting pregnant and postnatal women to the right services; and disseminating expert information. This year we have: 2020 has brought financial challenges for maternal mental health charities at a time when support has never been more vital. If you would like to support APP’s festive appeal financially you can: If you’re not able to make a donation this year, you can help us in other ways as we try to break down the stigma surrounding perinatal mental illness and raise awareness of postpartum psychosis. Please share APP’s posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and talk to whoever you can about the importance of maternal mental health charities and specialist perinatal services. Look out for lots of PP and APP press pieces over Christmas. Send festive e-cards and support APP this year Send APP e-cards in 5 steps: Thank you to our e-card artists this year The artworks for our festive e-cards this year have been created by mums with lived experience of postpartum psychosis, their children and families, by staff at Mother and Baby Units and our supporters. Thank you to everyone who got in touch to share their designs for our e-card appeal. With thanks to: Four million steps for Action on Postpartum Psychosis! Following her amazing efforts, Rachel said ‘We were very pleased we beat our target for the steps and the fundraising! It was harder than we expected to keep up the minimum steps every day for a whole month. Especially on work days, with the weather being miserable a lot of the month and the fact we had a few members of the team in isolation at various times! But it was good to have something to get us through the lockdown. I’m glad to hear our fundraising efforts will make a big difference.’ Rachel has signed up to be one of our five runners in the London Landmarks Half Marathon (LLHM) which will take place on 23rd May 2021. We hope your training goes well and you are looking forward to the big day. Rachel’s event has raised such incredible awareness and funds through her JustGiving page, which you can still visit and donate to here. Thank you Rachel and friends for your support of APP and to all who have donated! - Rachel’s event has so far raised more than £1,500 for APP! If you have been inspired by Rachel, APP would love to support any fundraising ideas you have. Get in touch here. Run for APP at the London Landmarks Half Marathon! APP is looking for five enthusiastic runners to take part in the London Landmarks Half Marathon on Sunday 23 May 2021, could it be you?! About the event While participants run past some of London’s most spectacular landmarks, the event will highlight how we are coming together as a nation during the Covid-19 pandemic. LLHM will be honouring the key workers, re-creating some of the fun moments of lockdown life, and remembering the kind actions of neighbours. The race starts by The Strand, finishes by Downing Street and includes views of London’s most iconic landmarks including Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral, Nelson’s Column, the Gherkin, the Shard, the Tower of London and the London Eye. How to sign up Simon & Jude's cycle to support APP! Starting on 21st August 2020, Simon and Jude finally finished their ride (over 47 days) by early October just in time for World Mental Health day and the birth of their latest grandchild. At the beginning of the epic journey, the weather was against them, and Jude recalls cycling up and down relentless hills in rain and heavy wind. The couple had also decided to camp whenever possible to minimise the risk of contracting corona-virus. This meant their sleep and recovery often took place in a damp tent. As campsites began to close because of the virus, they often struggled to find a place to stay. As well as raising funds the couple have been doing all they can to raise awareness of the severe mental health illness by talking to people along the way. Following their amazing efforts, Simon said: ‘Our aim was to raise awareness of postpartum psychosis and everyone that we met showed, interest, concern and compassion and promised to talk to others about the condition.‘ The Hills were inspired to fundraise for APP after one of their daughters suffered from Postpartum Psychosis after giving birth. You can read an article about their story here. Simon and Jude raised such incredible awareness and funds through their JustGiving page, which you can still visit and donate to here. Thank you Simon and Jude for your incredible efforts and support of APP and to all who have donated! - Simon and Jude’s amazing fundraiser has raised more than £5,500.00 for APP! If you have been inspired by Simon and Jude, we'd love to support any fundraising ideas you have! Get in touch here. Sally runs a half marathon for APP! A huge thank you goes to Sally Hogg, who a year after skydiving for APP, organised and ran a half marathon around her local area on 11th October to support APP. Sally is a big supporter of APP, and has two friends who were affected by the illness, including one who spent two periods in Mother and Baby Units after the birth of her sons. Sally also worked on improving services for women with perinatal mental health problems and is an admirer of APP’s work, particularly the central role played by women with lived experience. Following her amazing efforts, Sally said: 'The run was great, we had some lovely support from friends. I am thrilled with the fundraising and hope to get some more when the Royal Parks happens too’ Sally was due to be running the Royal Parks half marathon for APP in October, which has sadly been postponed due to COVID-19. However, Sally is still looking forward to completing the Royal Parks race next year. Sally raised such incredible awareness and funds through her JustGiving page, which you can still visit and donate to here. Thank you Sally for your continued support of APP and to all who have donated! - Sally’s fundraiser has raised a fantastic £919.00 for APP! If you have been inspired by Sally and would like to run in aid of APP, email us here. We would love to support any event you choose! Emma & Laura's 100 Mile Challenge A huge thank you to both Emma Watt and Laura Dockrill who organised and ran 100 miles to support APP and PANDAS! Emma completed her 100 miles throughout the month of June 2020 and raised such incredible awareness and funds through her Virgin Money Giving page, which you can still visit and donate to here. Following her amazing efforts and the support Emma received by every supporter, Emma said: 'I was overwhelmed by the love and support from everyone and this really spurred me on for the 100 miles. I couldn’t be prouder to hand over the baton to Laura Dockrill x'. Despite an injury, Laura completed her 100 miles with the help of 33 friends who each ran 3 miles/5K on the same day on Saturday 22 August 2020. The runners included @hugowhitenoise @daisymaydock @r_mcbean @hdurkle @sioby11 @robertemms @victoriabuzzington @el_matthews_ @ssoufian @annekaharry @jadeanouka @_gracesavage @thesabrinagrant @zeshaldinho @helen_kenny @victoria_cooper @gemagain @camtstagram @danusztan @db_personal_training @becki_haslam @torie_green @lindseyjrussell @waureng @peggysuekaty @jagjagomix @ezzamcp @jasonsales @samuelking @mkpyoungman @freddie_errington @johntrindle @thelippyrunner @maxulla and @secakery. In a video shared with her Instagram followers on the day of the run, Laura said: 'The love and support has just been overwhelming, I had goosebumps the entire run. It's without a doubt, the easiest 5K I've ever done because the energy was just so amazing..'. You can watch Laura's full clip here and still donate here. Thank you Emma and Laura for your fantastic efforts in support of APP and thank you to everyone who took part and to those who donated. If you have been inspired by Emma & Laura's 100 mile challenge and would like to run in aid of APP, email us at fundraising@app-network.org. We would love to support you! Follow Simon & Jude's 2500 mile cycle! Huge thanks to Simon and Jude Hill who are cycling 2500 miles to raise awareness of postpartum psychosis and funding for APP! Simon and Jude said: "When our third daughter, Emily, suffered from postpartum psychosis after the birth of her daughter in 2018, we were so grateful for the support she received whilst in Leeds MBU. That support has continued to help her towards making a full recovery. Emily is an experienced mid-wife and after her maternity leave was able to return to work at a local birth centre. Jude and I had been planning a long bike ride in the USA to raise funds for APP but that was shelved with the onset of the pandemic. We realised that whilst we have all been enduring the difficulties of lockdown, a small number of mothers, their partners and families have had to cope with the additional challenges brought on by PP. Raising money to facilitate the work of APP must not be delayed, to support future mothers who experience postpartum psychosis. Starting on 21st August, 2020, we will be doing a UK based challenge by riding from Lands End to John O’Groats (LEJOG), and back. Following mainly National Cycle Routes (SUSTRANS) to cover the 2500 miles, we will be camping whenever possible. Our hope is to be back at our home in Somerset by early October." Join Simon and Jude by donating on their JustGiving page here, “Pedalling for PP awareness” You can also click here to follow Simon and Jude on Instagram, “Pedalling for PP awareness”, or to keep up to date with their fantastic LEJOG journey, check out their itinerary plans here and their Strava journeys here! Thank you Simon and Jude for your incredible efforts and support of APP! We wish you the best of luck.
A
huge thank you to Kate Stevenson-Pugh who had her hair shaved on 12th December to raise awareness and money to support APP’s work.
Thank you for supporting us through this difficult year.
Read full articleBrowse APP's wonderful festive designs to send as e-cards to your loved ones.
Send festive e-cards and donate the cost of cards and stamps to APP >
Read full article
A huge thank you goes to Rachel Lucas and friends, who together as a team of 11, walked four million steps for APP during the month of November to raise awareness and money to support APP’s work. Rachel developed postpartum psychosis in the days following the birth of her daughter Evelyn and spent six weeks in Leeds Mother and Baby Unit (MBU).
The London Landmarks Half Marathon on 23 May 2021 takes in some of the capital's world-famous landmarks on closed roads in central London and is the only half marathon to go through both the City of London and City of Westminster.
You can find out lots more about the event here >
If you would like to run the London Landmarks Half Marathon and raise funds for Action on Postpartum Psychosis at the same time, please get in touch with Kelly via fundraising@app-network.org. Thank You!
A huge thank you goes to Simon and Jude Hill, who organised and cycled 2,255 miles from Lands End to John O’Goats, and back to support APP!
