Tag Archives: fundraising

7 September 2024

APP's 2025 Great North Run Team

It's the one of the biggest and most well know half marathons in the world - the Great North Run - and we're so excited to have FIVE runners taking part for APP this year:

Tim in his purple APP top at his local York Parkrun

Tim

Tim is running for APP because of the work we do campaigning for more Mother & Baby Units (MBU).

Tim's family have first hand experience of not being able to access a local MBU. When his wife was diagnosed with PP after the birth of their second child, there was no bed available at their nearest MBU, meaning she had to be treated some way from their family home.
Tim says 'Nine years on and with a healthy family, we would like to give something back to enable help to be made available for other families in a similar situation.

Add your support for Tim here.

Mikyla

Mikyla is taking on her first half marathon and we couldn't be more grateful that she has chosen to do this for APP.

She says: 'I am dedicating my first ever half-marathon to new mums and APP as my charity. I want to show solidarity to all new mums and their families, and to help bring support to the new mums who most need it.'

Support Mikyla here.

Rob

Rob has chosen to take on the Great North Run for APP this year as 'it is a cause close to my heart and I wanted to support the great work that APP does.'
Thank you Rob and good luck!

Add your support for Rob here.

Philippa & Owen

Running together and inspired to do so to support brother in law Rob and his family, Philippa and Owen have been training hard and are excited to take on the Great North Run for the first time!

Add your support for Philippa and Owen here.

A huge thank you to all of our runners, and to everyone who has supported them with their training, and through donations.

Look out for them in their purple APP tops on the TV coverage and do give them an extra cheer if you're going to be there in person this weekend.

15 August 2024

Sarah takes to the skies for APP!

This August, Sarah Horton will be skydiving from 10,000ft over the coast of Cornwall to raise funds and awareness.

Sarah has bravely chosen to take on this challenge after her partner Charity became ill with postpartum psychosis (PP) after the birth of their triplets three years ago. You can read more about their story here.

Charity explains: 'Sarah decided to fundraise predominantly because PP is a relatively unknown illness (we had no knowledge of it) and something that hit us out of the blue and affected us personally and we now feel, after therapy, we have come out the other side.

It was quite comforting when I was in the psychiatric unit to be given APP leaflets explaining what I had and that there was an existing charity made up of people who knew exactly how we felt. Sarah said she wants to 'give back' - without the existence of APP giving support, researching and all of those people in the NHS who came to our aid and helped our recovery our story could've been so different.

When people ask me what I want for my birthday I always say, I don't want anything, just please donate to APP because that means more to me than any gift (and I mean that in the most non-cringey way!).

It is so important that research continues, this awful illness is so soul destroying and confusing to suffer, it leaves you feeling robbed of what is supposed to be a magical life event so it's vitally important to find out the real reason it happens so that people can move forward and be happy.

The more we shout about it, the more people will recognise the signs in the loved ones - awareness is key. I said to Sarah the other day, I'd love to do a run or something to raise money but the reality is I'm unfit and don't have the time with 3 toddlers to train and that's where Sarah said she'd skydive for me!'

You can add your support for Sarah's skydive challenge here.

Thank you so much to both of you for sharing your story, and good luck to Sarah for your skydive, we can't wait to hear all about it!

12 August 2024

Matt's on a Mission for APP!

This year, Matt, a dad of two from Fleetwood in Lancashire, has been on a mission to get fit at the same time as raising funds and awareness for APP.

He set himself the challenge of taking on a half marathon AND a triathlon before the end of September, and has been building up to these with lots of running, swimming and cycling throughout the year. Here Matt explains what he's doing and why he decided to take on this epic challenge:

'At the beginning of the year, I started a health and fitness journey to help myself and my wellbeing. I am now really enjoying this with many challenges already complete and more to come:

4 x 10k runs complete
A half marathon coming up on 25th August (my first ever)
A sprint triathlon made up of 400m swim, 20km bike and a 5K run (my first ever) on 22nd September
I am now toying with the idea of a marathon in 2025!!!

I thought that this would also be an ideal opportunity to help raise some funds and awareness for a charity. After doing some research it was a no brainer! APP was the charity I chose with it being a charity that me and my family can relate to having being personally affected by this illness.

Watching my then partner, now wife, go through postpartum psychosis was really tough. What was supposed to be a happy and exciting time in our lives adding a second child to our already perfect family, turned out a very difficult and testing period for my wife (especially) and I.

When this illness hit, I was not aware what it was, or how this was caused and we had to contact our local midwife team, who then explained in what my wife was experiencing and how it can be helped/treated. We were then referred to our local mental health crisis team who started to diagnose and treat my wife.

This was a long process for us all but the support for my wife at this time was vital. Taking extended time periods off work and changing our short-term living arrangements amongst other changes really helped with the recovery.

It also really helped that we have a very strong and supportive family network around us.

Any funds and awareness I can raise is a massive help – even if I tell just one person about this illness, I feel like this could make a big difference.

I have had a dedicated race top made where local businesses got involved, buying a ‘sponsor’ space for a fee that went straight to my donations page. I am trying everything to get the donations in and counting on the generosity of my community to help.'

You can follow Matt's journey via his instagram page @mattymeck_fitnessjourney, and you can add your support for his mission here.

Matt - you are an inspiration! We can't wait to hear how your first ever half marathon and triathlon go - thank you so much for sharing your journey with us and for your support for APP.

1 August 2024

Sarah's ToughMudder for APP

APP supporter Sarah Pujol is taking on the gruelling Tough Mudder South West obstacle course to help raise funds for APP and awareness of postpartum psychosis (PP).

Sarah has chosen to take on this challenge to mark three years to the day that she became unwell with PP after the birth of her daughter.

She wants to celebrate how far she's come and use her recovery journey to inspire and make a difference.

Sarah says: 'Tough Mudder, with its gruelling physical and mental challenges, serves as a symbolic representation of my belief that today, there's nothing I cannot overcome. The obstacles on the course reflect the hurdles life throws at us, and as I navigate mud pits and conquer towering walls, I'll be proving to myself and others that, after facing the darkest moments of my life, resilience and inner strength can conquer all.'

She's chosen to support APP through this event because 'APP introduced me to a community of genuine and caring people who helped me navigate the loneliness and complexities of this illness, and played a huge part in my recovery.'

Sarah is now a volunteer peer supporter for APP herself, supporting women and families who have also been affected by PP.

She will be providing regular updates on her training and her progress on the day of her challenge via her instagram page, plus you can read more and add your support for this challenge here.

Thank you Sarah and good luck!

18 June 2024

Cee Jae's 12 hour gameathon for APP

APP supporter Cee Jae has been raising awareness and funds for APP via live streaming their xbox games to Twitch for a while, but now Cee Jae has decided to step up their efforts even further, and on 30th June they will be holding an epic one off, 12 hour non stop streaming event, during which they will also share snippets of their journey through postpartum psychosis, alongside their gaming community gang.

Cee Jae is passionate about raising awareness of PP and of APP and says: 'I received some very meaningful support from APP on recovering from postnatal psychosis myself back a few years ago, so this cause is crucial to me.'

Cee Jae has shared some photos with us, saying 'These are from the time when me and Henri were in the MBU and when he came to visit me with his grandmother when I was in acute wards during my time through PP.

The photo of me and him all grown up (main photo above) is us today, five years later, still healing from the memories myself and still making more beautiful memories with my little dude.

It really is an understatement when I say that I am passionate about spreading awareness. My experience fuels my desire to fundraise for your organisation.'

You can add your support for Cee Jae via JustGiving here.

Follow Cee Jae on their Twitch channel (username mush_roomgoblin)

They are promoting their fundraiser, and more details about their recovery from APP in their discord server too.

30th June also just happens to be Cee Jae's birthday - what a great way to celebrate! We're so grateful to you for choosing to spend your birthday doing this for APP!

13 June 2024

BBC Radio 4 Appeal Round Up

Thank you to everyone who supported APP’s BBC Radio 4 Appeal which was broadcast on 23rd March 2024.

It provided us with an incredible opportunity to reach new audiences, raise awareness of postpartum psychosis as well as APP, and raise vital funds to support our work.

The broadcast is still available to listen to here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001xm04

The appeal aimed to raise funds and awareness, and reach people who had not heard of APP before.

Our ambassador, author Laura Dockrill presented the appeal, which focused on the importance of providing peer support. As part of the three minute broadcast, Laura shared some of her own PP story, and made a suggested donation ask of £34 which could enable APP to reach out to and support a new mum affected by PP.

All donations made to the appeal were matched by a generous donor.

Alongside the appeal we also successfully applied for an electronic billboard campaign with JC Decaux - this was live for four weeks during March 2024, with a focus on the BBC appeal for one week.

The appeal raised (with Gift Aid and match funding) £18,977. The average donation received was £43.

In addition to this, we also received approximately £8,500 from BBC Radio 4's general appeal fund - meaning the final total for the appeal was a fantastic £27,500. This will make a huge difference to the work we can do supporting mums and families affected by postpartum psychosis.

The impact of the appeal goes far beyond the donations though - the awareness raised will have even longer term effects for APP and the families we support:

Increased profile for APP - only 49 charities are chosen for BBC Radio 4 appeals each year.
Our electronic billboard campaign reached 16 million people across the UK.
MBUs and perinatal mental health teams across the country were invited to listen in, several did and some held listening parties and cake sales to mark the broadcast.
New people found APP - we received letters and emails from individuals who had been personally affected by PP.
The appeal and billboard campaign was shared by Maternal Mental Health Alliance, NCT, Royal College of Midwives, iHealthVisiting, Pandas UK and others.
Huge reach and lots of engagement on social media during the month of the appeal (158,000 reach, a 76% increase on the previous month!) including shares from Laura Dockrill, singer Paloma Faith, musician Hugo White, author Catherine Cho and others.
Anecdotal evidence of increase in referrals to local perinatal mental health teams.
Significant increase in number of new users on our forum.

Some quotes from donors:

‘I am giving a donation as I listen to the Radio 4 appeal - as it was something that happened in our family but was never talked about - our great grandmother died in an asylum in 1901 having been admitted following the birth of my grandmother in 1900. Last year I went to read the medical notes in the public record offices - she was an inmate for a harrowing 10 months, her behaviour - she believed her body was not her own and wished it destroyed - all meticulously recorded by the staff. Sadly she died of an unrelated infection. My grandmother never had a mother. So to find out your charity exists is a good thing. Good luck with your future.’

‘I’m so glad you're raising awareness about this. My mother was a sufferer’

‘I follow Laura Dockrill on Instagram and I saw she had posted about the campaign on Radio 4, which is why I have donated. I know two people who have a suffered from postpartum psychosis and after going through peri and post natal depression myself, I’m so grateful charities such as APP exist. Keep up the good work!’

Our Impact Story is live on the BBC Radio 4 Charity Appeal website.

Thank you to everyone for getting involved, donating, sharing our social media posts, holding events and using this appeal as a way to start new conversations about PP and maternal mental health.

6 June 2024

Miles for Mums and Babies 2024

A massive thank you to everyone who has taken part in our 2024 Miles for Mums and Babies challenge so far. We have been so inspired by the number of supporters getting involved and amazed by all the different ways you've come up with to complete your miles - from roller skating to swimming to cycling and dancing, and of course lots of running and walking too.

Here's a round up of some of our Miles for Mums and Babies stars of 2024...

Team Challenges

We love it when teams of healthcare professionals decide to take on a challenge for us. We know how much work goes into these and we’re so grateful for your support!

The Margaret Oates MBU (Mother and Baby Unit) in Nottingham took part in Miles for Mums and Babies for the second year in a row raising nearly £500. This year they covered 365 miles - the physical journey between the Nottingham MBU and Belfast in support of APP’s campaign to raise awareness of the urgent need to a MBU in Northern Ireland.

The team at The Beeches MBU in Derbyshire decided to go for a massive 1240 miles, raising an incredible £1,270. They chose this number as their MBU opened in 1993 and on average they help 40 families a year so it was one mile for every mum or family The Beeches has supported since opening. They covered their miles on team walks, lots of dog walks, got some of the mums they are supporting involved and had a great time.

The Andersen MBU in Manchester initially planned to go for 500 miles but after a flying start they soon upped their target to 750 and ended their challenge on an amazing 951 miles! They've raised an excellent £100 so far and have other events in the pipeline - look out for three of their team taking part in the Manchester Half marathon later this year! Some of the team also took part in our APP team tutu walk in Manchester in May – thank you so much for joining us on the day and supporting the APP team.

The North Wales Perinatal Team each walked, ran, cycled or swam 141 miles throughout the month of May, representing the distance from South Stack on Anglesey to Ribblemere MBU in Chorley. They say: 'This is where we admit women most often for the highest level of support when they become unwell in the perinatal period. While the support they receive is undoubtedly to a high standard it is a long way for women to be away from their homes and families while they recover.' The team raised a fantastic £350 through their challenge and say they loved being part of it for the second year in a row!

The fab folk at the Suffolk Perinatal Mental Health team walked 1400 miles between them over the month – to raise awareness of the number of new mums who are diagnosed with postpartum psychosis each year. Across a number of different fundraising pages, they raised an amazing total of £2,220 - incredible work! Thank you.

A big group from the Humber Perinatal Mental Health Liaison Team all chose to cover 99km each during May to raise awareness, foster empathy, and generate vital funds to ensure that individuals facing PP receive the support they need. And they did indeed raise an amazing amount - £1,300! Thank you so much - a huge achievement.

A big thank you to all the teams taking part this year!

Individuals

Several of our individual fundraisers are back for their second year - Lisa and her lovely friends completed a five hour walk, raising £1,000 in the process; and amazing Becky chose to repeat her epic 5k a day in May challenge for the second time! Kayleigh and her husband Dave loved their challenge last year so much that they decided to do it again this year, this time walking 27 miles in a single day - the distance from their house in Sunderland to the MBU in Morpeth.

Big congratulations too go to our new Miles for Mums and Babies challengers including Karin who walked a massive 38 miles in a day; Hannah, who ran 50 miles in May; friends Carly and Jessica who raised nearly £1000 between them doing 5k a day; Sarah who walked 300 miles in a month, including a very wet climb up Mount Snowdon; Hannah, a perinatal mental health practitioner in Northern Ireland who ran 50k in May; Nia in Wales who completed 60 miles; Tegan, also in Wales, who aimed for 50 miles but finished on 58! Some challenges are still in progress, including Nicola who is swimming 17 miles - representing the distance her husband had to travel to visit her when she was unwell.

Gwen deserves an extra special shout out as our single biggest Miles for Mums and Babies fundraiser this year - raising over £4,000 with her 96 mile walk - an unbelievable achievement.

Kate is also taking on the challenge for the first time this year, she's in the process of walking 100 miles during May and June and has given us this update: 'I am really enjoying my walking. On about 70 miles now. I have been able to make lots of people aware of PP and the difference to postnatal depression which everyone has heard of! I still can’t believe that so many have never heard of it. So pleased to actually do something positive to help you after 34 years of my first episode.'

So many of our fundraisers have bravely shared their own stories of their experiences of postpartum psychosis, helping to raise awareness and understanding of the illness.

A huge thank you to every single fundraiser who has taken part so far this year, and to every donor who has supported them. The funds raised will go a really long way to helping us support even more mums and families affected by postpartum psychosis.

If you're feeling inspired by all this incredible activity, it's never too late to get involved - you can take on a Miles for Mums and Babies challenge whenever you want to - just drop Fliss an email and she'll help you come up with a plan! Or alternatively you could take on an organised challenge - we have access to places in all sorts of events all over the country - find out more here.

14 May 2024

Double your donation with Kind2Mind

Double the donation, double the impact

Action on Postpartum Psychosis are delighted to have been chosen to be part of another Big Give match funding campaign. Our Big Give Kind2Mind campaign starts today, Tuesday 14th May, as part of national Mental Health Awareness Week.

This means that from noon on 14th May to noon on 28th May, every donation we receive via our campaign page on The Big Give website (www.bit.ly/APPBigGive2024) will be doubled, thanks to match funding from The Big Give.

So, if you’d like to donate to APP over the next fortnight, we would be so grateful – and your donation would have DOUBLE the impact – you donate £5, APP will receive £10; you donate £25, APP receives £50 and so on.

Our target for the month is to reach £2,500 in donations – which would mean a total of £5,000 raised.

Our target of £5,000 could help us significantly increase our offer of help and support for families affected by postpartum psychosis (PP) - a treatable medical emergency that affects around 1400 women in the UK each year.

When a mum is diagnosed with PP, the impact of the illness on her loved ones can be significant, and we want to be there for them. We provide one-to-one support and dedicated café groups for dads, co-parents and grandparents and vital information when they need it most.

Will you donate today and get your donation doubled?

We're so grateful for your support – every single donation we receive really does make a big difference to the work we do.

If you aren’t able to donate at the moment, we totally understand – but please do share our campaign with others if you can.

That link again is www.bit.ly/APPBigGive2024 - only donations through that page will be doubled. You'll also find shareable posts on our social media feeds over the next couple of weeks.

Now could also be a great time to think about holding a Big Bake event! Find out more here...

1 May 2024

Miles for Mums and Babies 2024

APP's 2024 Miles for Mums and Babies challenge kicks off today, 1st May, World Maternal Mental Health Day.

With more people than ever before already signed up, we're so excited to see and hear how everyone gets on with their challenges.

There are whole teams on board from many MBUs and perinatal mental health teams including the Margaret Oates MBU in Nottingham, The Beeches MBU in Derby, the Andersen Ward in Manchester, the BCUHB team in North Wales, the Suffolk Perinatal Mental Health team and the Humber Perinatal Mental Health Liaison team. The teams will be covering thousands of miles between them - walking, running, cycling, swimming and more - we're really looking forward to all your updates!

Lots of individuals are taking part across the UK too - including Lisa who will be completing a five hour walk with a group of friends, Hannah - aiming to run 50k in May, Kate who's planning 100 miles in a month and Carly, who along with friends, is going to cover 5k a day in May. These are just a few of our amazing fundraisers getting involved this month - we'll be celebrating all of them throughout this month so keep an eye on our website and social media for updates.

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up, and to all those supporting them. You really are making a difference.

And it's definitely not too late to get involved if you'd still like to join our amazing team of Miles for Mums and Babies fundraisers - you can get going with a challenge any time you like - we focus our challenge in May as part of Maternal Mental Health Awareness week, but you're welcome to pick any time that suits you.

Find out more, and receive your free Miles for Mums and Babies pack by emailing fundraising@app-network.org or completing this short form.

17 April 2024

Go #TeamAPP! Introducing our 2024 TCS London Marathon runners

We're so excited to have four fabulous runners taking part in the world famous TCS London Marathon this year.

On Sunday 21st April, APP supporters Lauren-Nicole, Rebecca, Luke and Lee will be lining up alongside 40,000 runners as part of this epic event.

Lauren-Nicole is an award winning writer and actress who is passionate about raising awareness of PP. Her play BABYNUN XO follows the stories of five sisters as one explores the impact of PP which unites and fractures them further. You can read more about Lauren-Nicole here.

Lauren-Nicole is a first time marathon runner. She says: 'I know if I think about the reason I am running and the charity I am raising money for it will absolutely keep me strong and get me through the tough times.”

Add your support for Lauren-Nicole here

Rebecca is a real inspiration, having gone from being a total beginner runner to her first marathon! She started last summer with a 'Couch to 5km' and this weekend she'll be lining up for the most famous marathon in the world. She says:

'When I got a ballot place in the marathon, I knew which cause I wanted to support. 12 years ago, I hadn’t heard of postpartum psychosis. Following the birth of my first daughter and ‘out of the blue,’ I experienced an episode of postpartum psychosis. After the birth of my second daughter in 2014 I stayed well and had no recurrence of PP. Raising awareness about this illness is crucial to ensure timely intervention and support for the mums and families affected. With your help we can support even more women and families affected by PP, break down stigma and raise awareness.'

Add your support for Rebecca here

Luke is taking on the London Marathon as his way of giving something back. He says:
'Running the London Marathon to support my sister-in-law and raise funds / awareness for Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP), the charity for mums and families affected by postpartum psychosis. Every step counts in our journey to raise awareness and support those affected. This charity has, and currently is, supporting my family, so I want use this opportunity to give something back.
Please give what you can afford. They are a relatively small UK based charity, so every penny truly counts.'

Add your support for Luke here

Lee is a familiar face to APP supporters, having already taken on more than a dozen challenges to raise funds and awareness over the last 18 months. The London Marathon is a bucket list dream for him and the icing on the cake for us!

You can read more about all of Lee's amazing fundraising adventures, and add your support for his final event, here

Training for a marathon is a huge commitment in both time and effort, and we want to say a massive thank you to all our runners - we're in awe of what they have achieved. We hope they all have a brilliant day and wear their medals with pride at the finish line!

If you happen to be in London this Sunday, do look out for #TeamAPP and give them all a huge cheer as they run past!

As APP has been unable to obtain any charity places in the London Marathon for a few years, all our runners this year secured their own places through the general public ballot or via other routes. We're so grateful to all of them for choosing to support us in this way.

We would love to have APP runners in the 2025 London Marathon - the public ballot opens on Saturday 20th April - so if you're feeling inspired, why not try your luck and see if you can score a place then run for us - you can submit an entry request here.

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