Essex Local to Run Royal Parks Half Marathon for Young People's Bereavement Charity

Tamsin will be taking on this impressive challenge for Winston’s Wish, the UK’s first children and young people’s bereavement charity. She explains how she came to be wearing the coral crest of the charity’s colours to raise funds to help support bereaved young people.

“I first came into contact with Winston’s Wish when I signed up for the Halloween Walk 25km Ultra challenge, I was flicking through the charities to try and find one which I would like to take the challenge to raise funds for.”

Tamsin resounded with the charity’s cause and the work it does for bereaved children throughout the UK. She says, “When I came across Winston’s Wish profile, the charity itself found a place in my heart as I lost my mum at the age of 23, my sisters 21 and 18 in 2011. We were lucky to have a great family-and-friends support network, but it would have been nice if we had access to the charity back then.

“Experiencing grief myself, and I wasn’t as young as some when I lost my mum, I know how hard it was to try and understand my feelings, from sadness to guilt to anger. I think that’s how Winston’s Wish really supports and some of the lovely ways they help for instance with impending loss of family members can really begin to help young people understand what is going to happen and how they can feel.”

Established in 1992, Winston’s Wish is the UK’s first children and young people’s bereavement charity and has been supporting grieving young people (up to the age of 25) and the adults around them in the local area and further across the UK for more than thirty years.

The charity provides support via online content, the Grief in Common Podcast series, as well as on-demand services such as live chat on the website, freephone and ask inbox which young people can use directly. Winston’s Wish also provides support to professionals working in education, healthcare, and community settings to assist bereaved children. The charity relies on its army of supporters for voluntary donations for 90% of its income.

Tamsin explains what she has been doing to prepare for her upcoming half marathon, she says, “I have always been active but not as active as I have the last 6 months! Back in April I took a life overhaul. I started concentrating on healthy foods and exercise, joined an amazing PT Vicki Marks and joined her transformation tribe. I did leave training a little late, on top of a busy job, animal life and home life! But I started training a few weeks back couch to 5k, and I’m not doing too badly, so my plan it to complete the half marathon by power walk and run intervals.

“I’d say that it’s important to book that challenge, take that leap, raise funds for deserving charities and realise that your health matters. I’m really looking forward to the challenge itself! I’m hoping to raise more funds through my sponsors and believe in myself to complete it. I am hoping that, with a buzz from the crowds and other competitors, it will spur me on even more!”

Tamsin is one of a team of runners who will taking part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon this October. If you’d like to follow Tamsin’s progress or sponsor her, then please visit her dedicated Just Giving page. Throughout the year Winston’s Wish offers places in a variety of runs, challenges, cycles and other activities, visit the Events page on the website for further details.

Winston’s Wish is keen to reassure bereaved young people and their families that they are welcome to chat online, email or call for free to speak to a bereavement support worker by calling 08088 020 021, emailing [email protected] or using the live chat at winstonswish.org.