Vale Domestic Abuse Services is proud to be taking part in this year’s Cardiff Half Marathon for the first time ever!

Earlier this year, we introduced you to some of our fundraising runners who are making up #TeamValeDAS at Cardiff Half this year.

We are thrilled that Michaela, Jim, Abbie, Shelley, Karen and Kelly are taking on this challenge whilst raising vital funds to help us support survivors in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Recently we heard from Kelly, to find out why she wanted to push herself to run a half-marathon in support of Vale Domestic Abuse Services…

“This is going to be my first half marathon – I’m feeling nervous, but I also feel this is an important part of a process for me where I’m reclaiming my life and taking control.  

I received support from Vale Domestic Abuse Services in the past and it honestly changed my life.

I went through domestic abuse and significant trauma from the family courts process. This triggered a mental breakdown, causing me to be off work for 6 months. That was an incredibly low time for me. I had no self-esteem, I gained weight, I stopped trusting people completely.

Having been referred to Vale Domestic Abuse Services, I started seeing one of their counsellors for weekly sessions. This process, and the support I received, brought me back to life. I honestly can’t thank my counsellor enough. She restored my faith in humanity and has helped me to begin to start trusting people again.

Over the months and with the counsellor’s support, I began to take an interest in things again. I got myself a bike, a fitness watch, and I started to do a lot of walking, working up to doing a mountain trek in Abergavenny. Slowly, I’ve been able to build up by fitness – it’s done wonders for my confidence and for my mental health.

I’ve always been a keen walker, but this half marathon is going to push me to achieve something I never thought I’d be able to do. So far, I’ve been really enjoying the training process and having an end goal of the Cardiff Half has given me that extra drive to go on.

It’s important to me that now I am where I am, I can help other women like me. I want women who are going through a similar experience to have the same chance as me to access support and begin to rebuild their lives. The more fundraising I can do to support this charity and the services they provide; the more women will be able to change their lives too.”