Chris Tshuma

My name is Chris, and when I’m not out and about travelling and meeting people, I’m in Bournemouth where I work in accounting and tax.

My interests all seem to be fitness related. I enjoy football, swimming, climbing and running is my new favourite. I’ll run anywhere, any time with anyone – it helps clear my mind!

I wanted to raise awareness about the importance of good mental health and decided to challenge myself and run every day for a year. I was searching for a charity to partner with, and a friend told me about Dorset Mind.  I was instantly sold once I’d read about all the incredible work they’re doing in our community.

Has anything changed since becoming an ambassador:

I know it sounds like a cliche but my life has changed completely.  For the last year, I’ve been learning about mental health, and sharing what I’ve learnt. Re-educating myself – and others – has been key. It’s been a great pleasure to meet so many different people. Seeing people from different places come together, share life experiences and promote dialogue on mental health has been life changing.

How has Dorset Mind helped you?

My hope is to help people everywhere understand that we are all incredible just as we are. We have worth and a purpose.

My aim is to challenge and encourage. I know we all go through difficult moments and seasons in life, but we can all heal and grow from them. There’s always room for kindness and I’m so excited to be able to be on this journey raising awareness on the importance of positive living.

One piece of advice I can give:

One of the things I believe strongly is that there’s always hope. I like to remind people that no matter the circumstance, whatever you’re going through – there’s hope. It’s also important that we realise our strength and its link to positive mental wellness. Understanding that people are going through so much and we need to support each other. Now more than ever. We need to break the stigma surrounding mental illness and talk about it openly.