Fareham hair stylist who suffered depression launches fundraiser for mental health charity

Georgina Thompson, 29, from Fareham, credits Mind with helping her put her '˜life back together' after turning to the charity for support.

'˜I have suffered from anxiety and depression. Things got so bad that if it wasn't for Mind then I probably wouldn't be here and my two daughters wouldn't have a mum,' said Georgina, who works at Nirvana Salon in West Street, Fareham.

Husband Luke Thompson added: '˜Mind is a brilliant charity and has been massively important in helping Georgina get to where she is today.'

In order to raise money, Georgina spent the day cutting hair with money donated towards the charity. Additionally, the salon also ran a cake sale and provided a collection box for customers to donate. She raised an impressive £270 on the day. 

'˜My colleagues have been really supportive in making donations and helping me to decorate the salon. Customers have already been buying cakes and my first client paid more than the cost of the cut to donate extra money to the cause,' said Georgina.

Friends Nicky and Flo Henneberg also gave up their weekend to support the event.

'˜I am really proud of her raising money for such a good cause. It is my job to make sure people buy cakes and donate money. We also helped at another recent event Georgina organised at the Park Tavern pub in which there was a band and raffle to raise money,' explained Nicky.

Flo, who has two daughters Emilia, three, and Isla, five, added: '˜Mind deal with a lot of mental health issues and events such as this help raise awareness and get people to talk about any problems they may have experienced and ask for help.'

In addition to the salon's event, Georgina is also planning to run the next London Marathon to raise money for the charity.

'˜As well as providing counselling, Mind also promote exercise and got me into running,' she explained.

'˜This has inspired me to take part in the London Marathon. I have already raised £700 in sponsorship which is why I would really like to raise the additional money to take it over £1,000.'

Georgina said that with one in four people suffering from a mental health condition and an estimated 6,000 people having taken their own lives in the last year, more needs to be done to raise the profile of mental health. 

'˜You can't always visually see if someone has a mental health problem. There is a stigma and people can be really good at hiding it,' she said.

To donate to Georgina's cause then text GTLM50 and the amount you'd like to donate to 70070.