A GROUP of Chirk women have launched a campaign to raise funds for a mental health charity.

The friends will be organising several fundraising activities during coming months to continue raising awareness of the importance of mental health service while also raising money for Mental Health UK.

Some of the initial ideas for fundraising activities include a walk from Chirk to Ponderosa and back again, a raffle and a charity head shave.

Beth Hesp is part of the group of friends and hopes they can help to keep the topic of mental health in the spotlight.

She said: “We don’t feel like charities in the mental health field get enough recognition and I feel as though it’s something which is always talked about after it has taken a life and then it’s often forgotten about.

“Two years ago I was very low myself after having my second child and referred to counselling, but it really helped me.

“So with that in mind, the girls and I want to raise money for the services.

“We don’t want that to stop here – after these events we want to keep coming up with ideas in the future.”

Beth praised the work carried out by mental health services and believes it is important more resources continue to become available for those who may need them.

She explained: “Having been through situations myself which have led me to use mental health services, it makes me want to help them even more.

“When I was first dealing with things myself, it was about seven years ago, and there wasn’t much around then in terms of support.

“But now, with more funding you have lots of different avenues of help – there’s an app for your phone and a number you can text, and there is better access to counsellors and therapy.”

With lockdown restrictions being lifted across the UK, Beth hopes it may open the door for more events to raise funds and awareness.

She said: “When places start to open up we are looking at doing some more things – some of us would like to do a skydive if we can raise enough money for charity.

“In terms of fundraising, we’ve had a lot of people sharing the link and we’re grateful for what we have raised up to now.”

If you would like to donate to the group’s fundraising efforts, visit https://gf.me/u/yf8z33 or visit Beth’s Facebook page.