A woman who says a Spalding charity helped turn her life around is to raise money for it by running the London Marathon for a second time.
Carly Wilkinson spent ten years recovering from mental health issues at Karis House which is run by The Lighthouse Project.
After being admitted while in a wheelchair and struggling to walk, she’s now a trained paramedic running a business putting on first aid courses.
She found her love of running through The Lighthouse and a new lease of life.
“When I arrived at Karis House in 2012 my mental health was in a really bad place,” said Carly who now lives in Berkshire. “I’d already tried everything I could through the NHS but I’d reached a point where nothing seemed to be working.
“Luckily, Karis House came at the right time. I was ready to properly accept help, and thank goodness I did because it completely changed my life.
“The Lighthouse Project Spalding helped me build the mental resilience I needed to stick with physical therapy and push through.
“It is such a supportive place. From the start, I felt accepted for who I was.
“The staff really saw the potential in me and never stopped encouraging me to reach for it.
“It was somewhere I could move past the labels that had been put on me. I’d been labelled with my mental health issues for so long that I felt I’d started living up to them, but the team at The Lighthouse Project Spalding helped me to take those labels away and find out who I really was.”
After training with Halmer Harriers, Carly raised £4,000 for Karis House by running the marathon in 2019.
Now she’s set to do it again this month.
“Crossing the finish line was incredible,” Carly continued. “I felt so proud of everything I’ve overcome to get there.
“This year’s marathon comes with very different challenges; life’s a lot busier and I haven’t been able to train as much as I’d like.
“This time I just want to enjoy the run, take in the atmosphere and raise as much as I can to make sure eve more people can get a second chance in life with The Lighthouse Project.”
You can donate at www.carlysmarathon.co.uk
