A mum who feared she \u201cwouldn\u2019t still be here\u201d is abseiling 84ft down a cathedral to thank the charity she says saved her life.<\/p>\n
Sarah Jones-Wallace, 28, from Denbigh, has signed up to scale down St Asaph Cathedral on April 25 in aid of Blossom & Bloom which supported her through severe postnatal depression.<\/p>\n
The administrator at Lock Stock Self Storage says she was \u201cwalking the streets crying\u201d and terrified to leave the house with baby son, Macsen, before finding a lifeline at the charity\u2019s mother and baby hub in Rhyl.<\/p>\n
Colleagues at Lock Stock have been so impressed by her bravery and her openness about her struggles as a new mum that the firm has donated \u00a3200 to her GoFundMe appeal.<\/p>\n
According to Sarah, she had previously suffered from depression and anxiety and after giving birth to son, Macsen, who is now two years old, found new motherhood \u201coverwhelming, isolating and honestly, completely terrifying\u201d.<\/p>\n
Despite having a strong network of support around her, including from her partner, her family, her friends and her colleagues, she struggled to leave the house with her new baby.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, she found Blossom & Bloom and started attending the hub from when Macsen was seven weeks old.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cBlossom & Bloom is a mother and baby charity, and they support so many people in so many different ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main benefit for me was helping me not feel so isolated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have these months and months at home, where your partner has gone back to work, and your family and friends have gone back to normality, and you\u2019re at home with this precious little thing and you\u2019re terrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did everything you\u2019re told to do when you\u2019re struggling, but at every corner, I was turned away. The mental health team said I didn\u2019t qualify because I\u2019d just had a baby. The postnatal team said I didn\u2019t qualify because I\u2019d had depression before becoming a mother. Doctors even told me they didn\u2019t know what to do with me. I was left with nowhere to turn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re feeling like that, having a community like Blossom & Bloom is so important.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was at the hub every single day for at least six months solid.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlossom & Bloom was somewhere safe I could go, somewhere where there were people exactly like me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are around people who understand exactly what you are going through, because they are going through it at exactly the same time as you.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was totally invaluable and I honestly to this day say Blossom & Bloom saved my life.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne hundred per cent, I have an amazing support network around me, I have friends and family who I know I can go to. I know I\u2019m more fortunate than many parents in my area.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, unless you have a little baby yourself, and you\u2019re going through it, it can feel like people don\u2019t understand what I am trying to say.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I know I am not the only person who feels like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah added: \u201cI have always struggled with my mental health, and having a baby on top of that, and with your hormones, everything becomes so elevated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to leave the house, and the health visitor would come and say it was important to leave the house and go to baby clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when you arrive at these clubs and you look around at every other parent, you feel they all look amazing, they have somehow got their hair washed, make-up done, and their baby is not covered in their own spit.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you think \u2018why am I not like this?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing to somewhere like that is a very different experience to going to Blossom & Bloom\u2019s hub where staff wouldn\u2019t just say \u2018you\u2019re doing amazing\u2019, but make you genuinely feel like you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hub no longer runs because of funding issues, but the charity still offers a programme of regular community playgroups at various venues in Rhyl.<\/p>\n
Sarah\u2019s mum, Ann Jones, takes Macsen to the playgroups each week, with each session accommodating about 30 children.<\/p>\n
Sarah said the loss of the hub was a huge blow to the hundreds of parents the charity has helped since it was launched in 2020.<\/p>\n
Sarah added: \u201cTo lose Blossom & Bloom entirely would be devastating.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not something we want to lose so we are just trying to find a way to fund these playgroups.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ollie Beech, Lock Stock\u2019s marketing officer, said the company was delighted to help boost Sarah\u2019s fundraising.<\/p>\n
The company has previously supported the charity when it donated seven dozen Easter eggs for a sponsored walk last year.<\/p>\n
Ollie said: \u201cSarah is someone we all love and appreciate and what she does with Blossom & Bloom is absolutely incredible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know a lot about the charity from speaking to Sarah and we\u2019re very interested in the support they provide to families.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the opportunity came to support Blossom & Bloom again, we were absolutely delighted to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst Sarah\u2019s story is incredible, it\u2019s also sadly not uncommon, and hopefully this fundraiser can raise money to help more families via Blossom & Bloom in the future.<\/p>\n
Sarah, who is now a Blossom & Bloom trustee, said after being helped by the charity, she was determined to raise money to ensure its community playgroups can continue.<\/p>\n
And when Blossom and Bloom founder, Vicky Welsman, asked for volunteers for the abseil, Sarah jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cVicky put out to a group of us that there was this abseil that the Rotary Club of Rhyl were putting on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just thought that with the help they have given me, the least I could do was hang 84 feet in the air off a cathedral.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said yes straight away, and I thought what an amazing experience it will be to raise money for a charity which means so much to a lot of people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never done anything like this before…not unless you include primary school trip activities from climbing walls not even half as high!<\/p>\n
\u201cComing down is so much more difficult than climbing up, you\u2019ve got to put all your trust in that rope, that\u2019s the scary bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will get my heart rate up for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
People can support Sarah\u2019s fundraising by visiting <\/strong>www.gofundme.com\/f\/help-me-abseil-down-st-asaph-cathedral-for-blossom-bloom<\/a><\/p>\n