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 Focus NewsletterFebruary 2024 |
| Welcome to the February edition of FOCUS, which includes two contributions from our Interns – an interview with Bennet Carr by Sarah El-Tonsy and a mental health feature on eating disorders by Sophia Chowdry. Our charity for this month is tastelife, which helps people break free of eating disorders by providing them with understanding and care. We include details of our current fundraising events for 2024 and in the meantime, we are planning a completely different event for this winter. We hope to make an application to Big Give to coincide with their Christmas Challenge, where all our funds would be match-funded if we were successful with our bid. More details in next month’s edition of FOCUS. FOCUS on Bennet Carr’s relationship with the BHMT  Written by Sarah El-Tonsy, following an interview with Bennett Carr Bennet Carr, headmaster of King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon, has had a significant career, leading him to touch the lives of many of his students – one being Joseph Harris. Whilst his connection to the charity had been established from knowing Joseph Harris as a boy, the connections he has formed have been endlessly substantial. As both a pillar and a benefactor, Carr has dedicated himself and KES facilities to the charity. Instances of such may include the playing fields for a cricket match and King Edward VI School’s Levi Fox Hall for several events, most recently, a beautiful art show with work meticulously crafted by artist Nathan McAdam Freud. However, the most significant donation by Carr would infinitely be the memorial held for Joseph Harris within the school campus. It is clear to anyone how Carr cares for the people he meets and finds it “natural that [he’d] want to support that.” A mutually Ben-eficial relationship! Photos include Ben’s fundraising activities, former pupils and TrusteesIt is important to note Carr’s accolades within the charity. As an accomplished runner, Carr’s hobbies were the perfect fit for the Trust’s fundraising techniques. Whilst his running started to maintain fitness post-facto COVID, it has far since evolved to the “really good thinking time” Carr lacks due to living on the King Edward VI School Campus. It has been revealed Carr now runs four times a week, totalling an average of 50km during this time. Though Carr runs for his physical health, he does emphasise the great effects of running on mental health. Whilst it does not secure mental health, it is “good thinking time” alongside several counts of evidence showing running is good for mental health. As a result, running and other such events are used as fundraising means for the Beer-Harris Memorial Trust. This is aided by benefactors like Carr stepping in. Carr has run for the charity on fifteen occasions – including “lots of 10k runs, a few half-marathons, and then [he] ran the Venice marathon in October half-term.” The Venice marathon highlights the relationship between Bennet Carr and the Beer-Harris Memorial Trust so warmly yet succinctly. Carr notes this was his first marathon, yet he received endless support from Miranda and Roy, the heads of the Trust. They came over to Venice to lend Carr their support [with fellow Trustee, Josh Beer]. “It was about just over a mile to go where they stationed themselves to cheer me on. […] I could hear them shouting and they were wearing their Beer-Harris Memorial Trust top, which I was wearing”, Bennet recalled. Carr’s motivation for linking the Trust with King Edward VI School traces back to Joseph, who Carr remembers fondly as someone with a smile that could brighten up a room. Carr has done his best to honour him, with his motivation being simply put as “Joe was a member of the school, and once you’re a member of the school, you’ll always be a member of the school” because “belonging is such an important part of life.” – which is an excellent way to describe the community feel of the Beer-Harris Memorial Trust. The close-knit organisation extends their hand to King Edward VI School and vis versa with the internships offered to Year 12 students, which Bennet Carr proudly supports as a “great idea [that builds character, such as] empathy, kindness, resilience.” Both the Trust and the School leadership share the same values and teach young people how to be the best versions of themselves as possible. Furthermore, Carr supports the charity sector profusely as it is a “hugely important sector in our economy, which does a great deal of good.” Carr concludes as “we are all benefiting from it, we should be doing our part.” Ergo, it is fair to say Carr and the Trust have had and will continue to have an excellent, mutually beneficial relationship. Carr’s current future plans include the London marathon for Meningitis Now, but in October, the Amsterdam marathon for the Beer-Harris Memorial Trust. On behalf of the charity, we all wish him good luck on his journey and would like to say thank you for all that he has done. FOCUS on FUNDRAISING Ironman European Championships, Hamburg June 2nd Nathan McAdam Freud will be competing in his first European Championships Ironman in Hamburg. The event has already sold out, but you can show your support to Nathan with a donation! 113 Events Half Ironman Cotswold Waterpark, July 14th One of our favourite events of the year! Why not join us for the event either as part of a relay team or as an individual. The 1900m swim is in one of the beautiful Cotswold Park lakes, followed by a gently rolling 56-mile cycle and then athletes are treated to a mixture of tarmac and hard pack pathing for the 13.1-mile run that takes in lake side paths as well as local village routes before finishing back close to the lakeside transition. Entry fees will be free in exchange for fundraising. For more information click here – or contact Miranda at miranda@beerharrismemorialtrust.org or 07887897673. North Yorkshire Long Course Weekend (LCW) September 6th – 8th This event is NEW for 2024. Set in picturesque Pateley Bridge, which sits within Nidderdale Area of Outstanding National Beauty, the Long Course Weekend is expected to bring athletes from across the globe to compete over three incredible days of world-class sport. With the unique LCW format, you can choose your challenge by selecting your preferred distances and disciplines for the weekend. You’ll have to do the longest distance in all three to get the coveted 4th medal though. Entry fees will be free in exchange for fundraising. Friday kicks off with the Yorkshire Dales Swim, giving you the unique opportunity to swim in the stunning (albeit cold!) Grimwith Reservoir, deep in the Yorkshire Dales. Saturday will see thousands of cyclists start from Pateley Bridge and take on the choice of 56 or 112 mile bike courses set in The Yorkshire Dales National Park. Incorporating some of the sections in Tour de Yorkshire, Tour De France and UCI courses into our very own sportive course. Rounding up the weekend on Sunday, you have a range of distances from Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k and 5k to take in some of the spectacular surrounding countryside, returning to Pateley Bridge where the massive crowds await you on the red-carpet finish line. For more details please visit the website. More details of new, exciting events will be available in the next edition of FOCUS. FOCUS on Charity: tastelife – a report by CEO, Di Archer  ‘I am whole and live with a new sense of identity and purpose’ “So said one of our recovery course participants. After years of struggling with a life-stealing eating disorder, through our course she finally found the tools she needed to walk out of it and rediscover life”, reports Di Archer.  “From our humble beginnings as two women desperately seeking support for our daughters battling with eating disorders and the impact on our families, the charity tastelife has grown to helping hundreds of people directly affected – and those who want to prevent eating disorders among young people. We are so proud of the people in our tastelife story: our recovery course leaders, mostly volunteers, walking selflessly beside those affected, with those life-restoring tools towards recovery; our youth team, multiplying prevention resources for young people in schools, universities and educational establishments; our developing training team, helping people understand eating disorders and respond well to them. We are enormously grateful to all those who support us on the journey – without you, it would not be possible. Together, we have been changing the story of eating disorder recovery…” Recovery: Bringing help and hope to the growing challenge ‘Caring for a daughter with an eating disorder is scary. On the course, we realised that we were not alone…’ (Sarah, mum)  Prevention: educating about eating disorders ‘Education and early intervention is the heart behind tastelife’s preventative tool for young people: the Youth Track’ 10,000+ young people have had access to Youth Track since 2019 100% of students improved their understanding of eating disorders In the digital space, young people living under enormous pressures from social media and peer groups can find tastelife’s social media feed on TikTok, Insta and Facebook, sharing positive messages about food, body image and dealing with emotions. ‘Lara* was barely engaging with medical services. However, she engaged like never before with Youth Track in discussing her worries, thoughts and feelings around food. She opened up to looking at food differently and then the healing could begin with the medical professionals who were trying to treat her.’ (Ruth, Counsellor) Education: informing about eating disorders ‘We all have to eat, so let’s talk about it’ We have reached over 10,000 people since the charity began 10 years ago with education about eating disorders, through conferences, seminars and workshops. Generally, people find the subject of eating disorders scary and mysterious and welcome our seminars – from health professionals to company wellbeing initiatives, faith organisations to schools and universities. We are breaking the taboo around eating disorders, and giving people permission to talk about them. Next steps: We know we have resources that work. We want to expand their use – running more courses, exploring more online opportunities, and working with more partners. We hope you will continue with us in helping people understand, avoid and break free from eating disorders. Thank you.” The tastelife team December 2023 For further information about tastelife please visit their website. If you would like to make a donation to our charity, which enables us to help this project, please click here: Donate FOCUS on Mental Health: Eating Disorders  Written by Sophia Chowdry An eating disorder which has become more prominent in the media in the last few years is binge-eating. It is the most common eating disorder in the US and is one of the most prevalent in the UK. Binge-eating disorder is most commonly characterised when people eat without feeling they are in control of what they are eating. It can be planned or spontaneous, often over a short period of time and it is not usually followed by fasting or immoderate exercise, unlike Bulimia Nervosa. This can lead to people becoming overweight or obese. People usually feel ashamed, guilty and resentful of themselves when they binge, so they normally binge alone. These negative emotions start to pile up and start to create a horrible cycle where the person involved continuously binges. Warning signs of binge eating disorders, as shown on the NHS website, are behaviour or moods changes, eating food quickly, storing up a lot of food, trying to hide the amount of food they are eating and gaining weight however, not everyone who has a binge eating disorder gains weight.  Verywell / Theresa Chiechi Any eating disorder is hard to overcome but it is important to remember there are so many people who care and are ready to support those affected through their journey. So how can you help? As tastelife says, recovering from an eating disorder is about being fully engaged with life and that is all about the person affected doing things they enjoy with the people they love. It can be as simple as going on walks in the park. While they enjoy these activities it is important that they learn to start loving themselves. An effective way of appreciating themselves is by keeping a log of all their successes. It is important to remember that every small improvement towards recovery should be celebrated. It takes a lot of patience to recover from an eating disorder, but it is important to remember that other people have overcome them, so they can too. If you would like to make a donation to support any of our work, please click here: Donate If you are able, please consider making your donation a monthly one. Monthly support helps create long term stability for the Trust and our commitment to promote wellbeing to those who suffer from mental health illness. Please visit our website to find out more about the organisations we support. Once again thank you for your donations, involvement and interest in the Trust. Best wishes Roy Harris (Chairman) |
February FOCUS…
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