So... on Monday night I received a letter from Downing Street! Whilst it is always exciting to receive a letter like this (the last one I had received was when I sent Tony Blair my suggestions to improve how he ran the country in 2001.) But this one was extremely unsatisfying and if they think this will stop my #dumpthescales campaign they are extremely wrong! 

The letter explains that the NICE Guidelines are currently in place and the government knows that people “frequently report the issue of weight being used as criteria for treatment” AND YES – we know this too! But what we also know is that this is not happening. People are being turned away left right and centre because they aren’t underweight. And the government are not doing anything to change this!

Over the last six months I have heard thousands of stories about people trying to access help but who aren’t able to because their BMI is too high. Last week a 16-year-old girl passed away because of this exact reason. But still nothing is really moving forward apart from constant wishy washy answers. If they know it’s a problem, DO SOMETHING! It’s not that difficult! 

The way eating disorders are diagnosed must change now! And whilst it is nice to get a letter from Downing Street because you can convince yourself the government sees this as an issue, the reality is nothing is changing and we need to shout louder until they make long term change. And a proper commitment to change! 

We need to be able to make sure that people with eating disorders are getting the right support in a timely manner. With 1.25 million people in the UK living with an eating disorder we can’t afford to wait any longer the time to act is now.

It takes 30 seconds to sign and share the petition so please do get involved - we need 100,000 signatures to get the PM to make these changes!

It would be amazing if you could all tweet this today

“I’m supporting @hopevirgo’s campaign to #dumpthescales because whatever @theresa_may says people with #eatingdisorders are getting an unfair deal for diagnosis! Help us change this https://www.change.org/p/eating-disorders-are-not-just-about-weight-dumpthescales 

Thank you so much for your ongoing support - as always please do get in touch with stories andquestions!