We are delighted to announce that local Olympic Hopeful Laura Gallagher has agreed to become patron of Mind in Taunton and West Somerset (part of Somerset Mind.) Laura is a trampoline gymnast from Westonzoyland and won the U-19 World Championships in Canada in 2007. Shortly after this she developed intense anxiety, which led to a loss of confidence that meant she was often unable to get on the trampoline in training and would visualise terrible accidents happening, which often prevented her from attempting the moves. This led to feelings of failure, worthlessness and loss of confidence in other areas of her life, and she felt a great deal of isolation, not realising how many people experience these things.
Over time, Laura learnt to manage her distress and has recently qualified for this year's World Championships, and is very hopeful of success in next year's Olympics. We became aware of her story through a radio interview heard by our Assistant Director Andy Pritchard, in which she described some of the events above. This was passed on to our PR & Fundraising Co-Ordinator Dave Urwin, who sent Laura an e-mail explaining that we found her story inspirational, and were wondering if she would like to get involved with the charity in some way. " I was very flattered to be asked to help out with Mind in Taunton and West Somerset," said Laura in a recent radio interview, "It's something I'm very passionate about, and it's the kind of opportunity I've been looking for."

Indeed, Dave was amazed to receive a call saying as much from Laura not more than 30 minutes after he had sent the e-mail.

Since then, Laura has attended the Freshers' Fair at Strode College with us, has organised two charity paintball event to raise funds for the charity and has recorded an interview in which she talks with great honesty and openness about her experiences. She is also helping us to organise a charity gig and will be attending a number of other events with us to help publicise the work we do, and what we are trying to achieve. We are extremely grateful to Laura for giving her time to help us, especially with her packed training schedule, and are sure you will join us in wishing her every success in the World Championships in Birmingham this November.