Our chosen charity for the summer term is BEAT...

Mrs Simper spoke in Assembly this morning:

BEAT is the UK’s largest eating disorder charity. Their mission is to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders. They do this by working directly with sufferers and their families, taking their experiences and challenges to help raise awareness and bring about change. In the UK its estimated that there are 1.25 million people suffering from an eating disorder.

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses affecting people of all ages, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds. People with eating disorders use disordered eating behaviour as a way to cope with difficult situations or feelings. This behaviour can include limiting the amount of food eaten, eating very large quantities of food at once, getting rid of food eaten through unhealthy means (e.g. making themselves sick, fasting, or excessive exercise), or a combination of these behaviours.

It’s important to remember that eating disorders are not all about food itself, but about feelings. The way the person treats food may make them feel more able to cope, or may make them feel in control, though they might not be aware of the purpose this behaviour is serving. An eating disorder is never the fault of the person experiencing it, and anyone who has an eating disorder deserves fast, compassionate support to help them get better. What we eat doesn’t just affect our physical health: it can also affect our mental health and wellbeing.  

I am certainly not an expert on eating disorders and it would be wrong of me to try and inform you about them and that is where BEAT comes in. They have one to one web chats, online support groups, a superb webpage which gives those people who reach out for help and advice the support and guidance that they need.

They do this in 4 ways:

• Train: They offer training through skills-based workshops which are led by clinicians with first-hand experience of working with people with eating disorders. The courses are designed to suit the needs of many different people who may come across someone with an eating disorder in their personal or professional life.
• Campaign: Every day on their helpline they hear about the difficulties faced by those seeking help for their eating disorder. People misdiagnosed, not listened to or referred onto long waiting lists. They are campaigning to make a difference to the lives of every one of those people.
• Awareness: They hold events and conferences and they support businesses, individuals, schools and universities who want to raise awareness and fundraise for Beat.
• Support: They offer support to people through their helpline, one to one chat and support groups. They provide friendly, non-judgmental advice regarding an eating disorder. Their support groups offer a safe space. 

On the BEAT website an 18 year old boy suffering from an eating disorder explains how "I rang the Helpline because I was struggling so much, but the lady I spoke to was so lovely and listened to me. Without the Helpline, I wouldn't have been able to make the step to tell services and get the help I needed."

However to do all this and provide support - BEAT needs finance so fundraising is incredibly important for BEAT. £14.00 pays for a trained Helpline advisor for an hour to provide support, guidance and advice. £76.00 funds the supervision of five peer support volunteers to help families cope.

Last week, we had our Sponge the Prefects, Headmaster and Deputy Heads event which raised £92.00. A huge thank you to the Prefects for organising this. This Thursday, there is a staff vs pupils hockey match,  Arion have their Charity event next weekend, then later in the term we have a non-uniform day during Mental Health Awareness Week, New House have their annual charity event and I am sure that there will be more charity events added to our calendar.

Emily Simper - Deputy Head, Pastoral

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