Laura and Jolene’s Sponsored Skydive for Mental Health and Learning Disabilities

Jolene, a service user from Creative Support and I have decided to take the plunge, literally! We are facing fear head on and saying "I can beat this!" to anxiety and jumping out of a plane to prove it!

Creative Support provide person centred support, involving daily living care, emotional support and the promotion of recovery and independence for those living with a variety of mental health as well as learning disabilities.

The stigma towards mental health and learning disabilities still endures and opportunities for them are still restricted as they are judged as having less 'potential' or being 'abnormal'. During my time working for Creative Support, I have discovered the value of 'abnormal''; firstly, through the act of being compassionate towards others' perspectives and hardships, it reflects the lens back on oneself and the world at large where there are many insights to be gained and secondly, how wonderful it is to have such diversity and difference; the word 'abnormal' is useless in this context, we should be using the word 'extraordinary'. This is because, a lot of the people I have met have overcome extraordinary adversity and some experience it everyday as if it were normal to them.

At creative support, we make the most of what we have but with the state of austerity that the country is in now, mental health and learning disabilities again get put on a back bench. With your money, I would hope to help give my clients the same opportunities that everyone else is granted; to empower them to make positive changes in their lives and help them build life skills and self development. The issue of mental health is not a lesser one than physical health; it is one effected by society and thus one that must be allayed by society. To do that, we should be giving and advocating the importance of giving to and supporting these vulnerable individuals. Jolene's skydive will be both an act and symbol of the empowerment of those with mental health problems and learning disabilities.

Please donate anything you can and it would be extremely appreciated!

For more information on what creative support do: http://www.creativesupport.co.uk/

(Just in case you were wondering, I am not using the fundraised money to pay for my skydive, I am paying for it myself.)