Loving family set up fund in memory of former north Derbyshire schoolgirl

From an early age it was clear what a caring person the former north Derbyshire schoolgirl was - and she enjoyed spending time with her family and many close friends throughout her life.

Drama was a great love of hers and she continued with throughout her education.

She attended Ridgeway Primary School and Eckington School and was always the star of the school plays.

In those first few years there was no indication of the problems she would struggle with later in life.

Last May, Molly tragically took her own life at the age of 22 - leaving her mum Linda, dad David, sister Keren and countless friends and family heartbroken.

Through their grief they realised that they needed to take action to ensure more help is available for young people to support their mental health and wellbeing.

Linda said: “Outwardly, Molly appeared to her work colleagues, friends and on social media to be a beautiful, energetic, intelligent, happy and creative young woman.

“Molly always tried her best to help herself, through various activities to improve her low mood.

“However, her inner struggles were concealed from most people.

“Molly was such a sensitive soul that she found emotional issues difficult and could not recognise her own worth.”

Her family have now set up a fund in memory of her in conjunction with a charity called South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation. The Young People’s Health and Wellbeing fund will award grant funding to community organisations and charities supporting young people’s mental health.

“As parents, we feel that due to the lack of timely access to appropriate services and support, there is a need for local and charitable services to be funded to run alongside public sector mental health services,” said Linda.

“When Molly died, she was being looked after by mental health support teams and in hindsight, if we had been allowed to be involved in her care by the teams looking after her, we may have had more idea of the extent of what she was feeling.”

Linda added: “With everyone’s help we can make a difference. If we can prevent anyone else from experiencing a loss like ours, we will have achieved our purpose.”

Make a donation here or go to www.sycf.org.uk.