My Story

On the 05th May 2012 I lost a member of my family to suicide, my daughter Lucy Rayner. At the age of 22 she ended her life following the break up of her relationship and left our family devastated.

I knew she had mood swings but I didn't realize how deeply unhappy she was until we found diaries after her death, outlining her feelings of depression and torment over a six year period.

Lucy had gone to the doctors 2 weeks prior to her death and was prescribed different contraception, after the doctors stating it was just hormonal!

Out of my despair I decided to start a charity because I felt that my daughter had slipped through the gaps in the NHS and was never referred to have some kind of talking therapy, which was obviously what she needed.

Our family held a memorial gala for Lucy and with the money raised on the night, The Lucy Rayner Foundation charity was born in May 2013.

What started out as a family run charity with 2 members, is now a team of 8, strong and growing every day. As well as sharing a passion for mental health, we all have a dream of having a wellbeing centre of excellence within Surrey that will bring a holistic approach to promoting good mental health whilst building resilience in our young people.

Young People and their mental health

Having run our service since 2013 we have seen a huge rise in poor mental health in young people especially since the pandemic. 

FACT

Young Minds say that one in six children aged 5 to 16 were identified as having a probable mental health problem in July 2021, a huge increase from one in nine in 2017. That’s five children in every classroom! In Surrey alone over the last 6 months we have had over 336 referrals for counselling, considering that was what we saw for the whole of last year! It is very alarming to know that we have seen a 50% increase in young people accessing our services and this figure is still rising!

Solution

Something more has to be done because what we have in place isn't enough, it just isn't working. I feel that a wellbeing centre is the perfect solution for young people and their families. A place to go where they can relax, learn coping techniques for their unique mental health, discover and try alternative methods to manage their anxiety, depression or other types of mental ill health. Our centre will be a place where they can learn new hints and tips that could save their life or lives of the people around them. The wellbeing centre will support the young people in Surrey and the wider local community, it will address a lot of the gaps that we are seeing in the current services and it will ensure that no one slips through the net. We will make it our mission to work with all of the other partners and organizations who have the same objectives as we do. No one person can make change happen, it takes a collective.

The Wellbeing Centre

In March 2022 I thought this was going to be a reality when we found a 19 acre site, we put in an offer for the site that was agreed with the owner. Everything was in place to move forward to purchase, then a developer came in at the final moments and gazumped us, offering a price to the owners that they couldn't refuse.

I felt utterly devastated and upset that this has happened to us, especially as we had worked so hard in getting architect drawings done and getting some finance in place for the purchase. We had actually committed funds to this, based on the word of the site owner.  

Still determined to materialise our dream, I have dusted myself off and decided to take a different approach. I want to get the community behind us and make this something that will inspire and address a growing issue that is arising within young people and their mental health. The aim is to build something for the community, to create a wellbeing centre that will support and serve young people, to help build mental resilience, raise awareness around the signs and symptoms of mental ill health, educate on how to live a healthy life and to help young people create their healthy tool kits using a holistic approach that they can then use throughout their life.

Fundraising through the crowdfunding platform I am hoping to gain support, raise awareness of our project and our charity, build momentum and achieve our target of building out the facility that we have worked on for over 5 years. The money raised from this campaign will form part of the build and the purchase.

The Project

The centre we hope will be a centre of excellence, a recognized building that promotes good mental health in young people aged 14 yrs - 39 years.

The centre will include different types of therapies, a full catering kitchen where people can learn about foods and how to feed the body with the right nutrients, a gym to practice good physical health, quiet areas for reflection, a café, training rooms, social spaces to encourage conversation, and many more things to offer a safe space to retreat to for a short period. 

We are asking YOU to HELP us to BUILD the wellbeing centre by BUYING A BRICK to start the foundations of the centre. Every brick brought will be put down in this first phase of the purchase and build, we needed £50,000 initially and we have SMASHED that target thanks to our amazing supporters.

We are now looking to raise £150,000! If you can help us get there, please donate today. No amount is too small!

Be a part of something special! Help us, to help our young to thrive.

I don't want another young person to be failed by the system and to end up taking their lives like Lucy did. You can change the status quo by pledging a brick and joining us to build a future that is supporting young people by giving them the space and the tools to support themselves.

LET'S BUILD THIS TOGETHER!