Hello everyone!
A massive thank you to everyone who has been involved in the campaign! We have successfully reached over 100,000 signatures and launched the next phase with the new resource being rolled out across South London! It feels AMAZING to have got this far and starting to see real change happen!
This week is Eating Disorder Awareness Week and it is essential that we keep momentum up now more than ever!
What can you do right now is:
1. Take a photo with the #DumpTheScales Logo showing your support!
2. Share the campaign on your social media; if you tag me I will re-share (my twitter is @HopeVirgo and my instagram is Hopevirgo_)
3. Tweet your MP asking them to get involved. (suggested tweet below)
“I am supporting @HopeVirgo’s campaign to #DumpTheScales because eating disorder support should not be dictated by BMI - will you '@insert MP name - please insert your local MP' show your support this #EDAW? https://www.change.org/p/eating-disorders-are-not-just-about-weight-dumpthescales"
4. Finally if you would like to (and it takes only 2 minutes) please copy and paste the below and email it to Nadine Dorries. Feel free to personalise if you like! Email: dorriesn@parliament.uk
Thank you so much for all of your support - it’s time to make this change happen now! Let's do this!
Dear Nadine Dorries,
I am writing in support of the #DumpTheScales campaign led by Author and Mental Health Campaigner Hope Virgo, and I hope you are able to support the campaign too.
The aim of the campaign is to end the injustices that people with eating disorders face, so everyone can get support they need.
The #DumpTheScales campaign is not asking for money. Rather, it is simply asking for better communications, sufficient staff training and a focus from senior leadership that will ensure that access to eating disorder treatment does not depend on a person’s weight. It is asking for the creation of a system that does not force a person to lose a certain amount of weight just so they can access treatment.
The creation of this system is not a luxury but an absolute necessity.
There are over 1.6million people in the UK that have an Eating Disorder. This is not an issue that will go away, but with effective preventative strategies that stop people from getting to crisis point, we have the opportunity to save lives, and to save the NHS money.
On Friday 28 February Hope Virgo launched a new resource with SWLSTG Hospital which will change lives. We need this resource everywhere!
I am urging you to revisit this issue that Hope has raised and get behind the process of reviewing the work, the guidance and the training delivered as a matter of urgency.
Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses with high mortality rates and we need to see this change implemented before even more people lose their lives to the illness.
Yours Sincerely