A medical secretary will be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in London to raise money for the National Deaf Children’s Society.
Grace Bryant works in the Basildon Mental Health Urgent Care Department, a service run by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust.
The run on 11 October will be her first half marathon and her last long race was 10km in 2011, for Cancer Research.
She said: “I am running on behalf of the National Deaf Children’s Society as my son was born with a profound hearing loss on one side.
“Although he isn’t too badly affected by this, I wanted to be able to help other children who aren’t quite as fortunate.
“Last year I completed the charity’s 100-mile challenge during October and raised over £200.
“After completing that I decided that I wanted to push myself a bit further.”
As part of her training, Grace has completed the Backside to Trackside nine-week running programme in July, which finished with a 5km run.
Grace has a fundraising page for anyone who would like to make a donation.
About EPUT:
- EPUT has a vision to be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care: Who we are – Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
- EPUT provides services to more than 100,000 patients at any one time and our staff are focused on providing high quality care in often complex situations.
- The organisation has invested in inpatient facilities and community services to make them safer and more therapeutic. We have extensively invested in technology to keep patients safer, enhanced training, and are continuously working with our staff, patients, their families and carers to use learning and best practice to enhance our quality of care.
- While there is more to do, the Trust has made significant progress through innovation:
- Our 111 mental health crisis phone line ensures people in need can access support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
- People with lived experience have been employed in designated roles across the Trust, ensuring patient voice is heart of the organisation and all that we do.
- A number of new initiatives have been launched, helping people access the support they need when they need it most. These include a mental health urgent care department, By Your Side maternal mental health service, Rough Sleeper team, mental health crisis ambulance cars, virtual wards and neuromodulation service.
- EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 and provides community health, mental health and learning disability services across Essex, Luton and Bedfordshire and Suffolk. We employ more than 7,200 staff working across more than 200 sites.
- To read more about our priorities and commitments to deliver the highest quality and safest care possible, visit https://eput.nhs.uk/about-us/2023-2028-strategic-plan/