RR Mental Health Champion

 

I’m Laura. I’ve been a member of Reading Roadrunners since March 2019. I came to the club through a friend. We both took up running and she asked me if I would join a local club with her.  I asked her to choose where we could run and she picked RR…. what a find! The club was an amazing lifeline from 2020-to 2021 and continues to be one. The team spirit and social interactions make the club such a special place to be. Admittedly, I don’t run as much as I did in my younger days, I’m more of a casual runner and a lot slower, but this seems to work for me.

I’ve always enjoyed watching sports, particularly rugby and athletics. I’m in awe at times, watching the action from the sidelines and I sometimes get carried away as a spectator.

My love for the sport took me down the path to becoming a well-being therapist, and these past 16 years, I have had the opportunity to work in both the private and public sectors of health and well-being. I have worked and trained with some amazing talent over the years, which I am very grateful for.

My role as your new Mental Health Champion is to actively promote mental well-being and running. I’ve been told many times, that I’m a good listener and I hope I can offer support to those members of the club who need a direct point of contact if they feel that they are experiencing any mental health problems. We all have mental health as well as physical health and we all need support for both, to be at our best.

I can be contacted on.
GoodToTalk@readingroadrunners.org

 

You can find out more about the role here
https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/our-programmes/runandtalk/mental-health-champions/

If you feel you need help and support with your Mental Health there are some useful contacts and listening services on the Mind website;
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/crisis-services/helplines-listening-services

Mental Health crisis contacts can be found here;
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/crisis-services/