Taking the plunge to help people with eating disorders
This Eating Disorder Awareness Week (27 February to 5 March), Peer Support Worker Lucy Shephard and her colleague Alice Marler, a mental health and wellbeing practitioner, are taking part in a skydive challenge at Perranporth Beach to raise money for eating disorder charity, BEAT.
Working for Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Lucy is part of a Truro-based team offering support to the increasing number of people in our community living with eating disorders. Having overcome an eating disorder herself, Lucy is using her experiences to help others recover. This way of working is termed 'peer support' and is having real success.
Lucy says, “Over a few sessions, we work on normalising situations around food, going shopping or visiting a café to reduce fears around everyday social experiences. People are inspired by my recovery story and genuine ability to say life is better without an eating disorder.”
Lucy and her colleagues received peer support training from charity BEAT which provides a vital helpline and resources for those with eating disorders and their carers. BEAT is calling for a fundraising approach 'two-gether' to symbolise that no one should face an eating disorder alone. For those waiting for NHS support or reluctant to receive clinical care, the charity is a positive alternative.
Marilyn Conroy, Specialist Dietitian and Operational Lead for the Adult Eating Disorders Service explains, “We have seen a huge increase in demand for our services since the coronavirus pandemic. Working together with voluntary and social organisations enables us to reach more people. The work of Lucy and her colleagues is having an amazingly positive impact and it is good to know that there are organisations like BEAT who can offer support alongside our services.”
Lucy has already raised over £900 towards her target and is keen to do more.
Lucy reveals, “I am frightened of heights but thought a skydive would be fitting as I ask people to take on their biggest fears around food every day. Jumping from 15,000 feet is nothing to facing a long-suffered fear of eating normally.”
To support Lucy, visit her Just Giving page.