Mum to run London Marathon in tribute to husband who died
Sarah Fletcher's world fell apart when her husband Shaun took his life on Christmas Eve 2024.The mum-of-six had no idea how much he was struggling with his mental health.
About Me
I've been a journalist for 20 years, the last 15 of which have been at the BBC. The Guardian Media Group sponsored me to study for a masters in print journalism at City University. After graduating, I worked as a multimedia journalist at The Press Association (PA) in London and Manchester. After leaving PA to join the BBC, I worked for Newsround, BBC Breakfast and the Six and Ten O'Clock News before I started my current role as a senior journalist and team manager for the BBC website. I write online news and feature articles and also work as a news editor, sub editor and line manager. I also worked as a lecturer in journalism at the University of Essex.
I live on the Essex/Suffolk border with my husband, two young children, Annie and Fred, and our goldendoodle Molly. I enjoy travelling, wild swimming, paddleboarding and singing in a choir. I have run the London marathon twice and regularly volunteer as a tailwalker, supporting the slowest runners. I volunteer at my children’s school, running the drama club. I also work part-time as a support worker for people with Down's syndrome through the charity Project 21.
Features
Explore a selection of my writing work below.
Izzy Judd: 'I can't let panic attacks take over my life any more'
Fifteen years ago, Izzy Judd was relaxing on the beach in Australia when she suddenly felt gripped by fear and unable to breathe.Her soon-to-be husband Harry, the drummer in McFly, had just gone off surfing."Him leaving me on the beach sparked a panic attack. It just came over me like a tidal wave. It felt like an out-of-body experience," she says.The professional violinist and mother-of-three is one of millions of people who live with anxiety so acute it can impede their ability to function.Las...
'Doctors dismissed my endometriosis as anxiety'
Amy Peckham-Driver was 14 when excruciating period pains caused her to pass out in a toilet.She asked doctors if it could be endometriosis, but was told she was too young and was given the contraceptive pill to ease the pain.Over the next decade, she battled with debilitating symptoms until she was finally diagnosed with the incurable condition, which affects more than 1.5 million women in the UK. The average waiting time for a diagnosis has now reached nine years and four months, according to a...
Jade Franks: 'I cleaned toilets while studying at Cambridge'
Harry Potter stunt double: Breaking my neck hasn't changed me
David Holmes was just 17 years old when he started making magic happen as Harry Potter's stunt double. The talented gymnast, from Leigh-on-sea in Essex, performed stunts deemed too risky for the film's 11-year-old star Daniel Radcliffe. But in January 2009 while filming the seventh film, he was rapidly jerked back on a harness, leaving him paralysed at the age of 24. Here, in his own words, he explains how breaking his neck has never changed his personality.
Strictly's Ellie and Vito still dancing together every week
"The phone rang, it was my agent, and she told me I was going to be on Strictly. I just started screaming."Ellie is beaming as she talks from her home in Essex about the phone call she had dreamed about for years.But it was not a surprise to her - she manifested it. "I said to mum that I would make Strictly happen," she says.Yvonne raised her daughter to believe that she could achieve anything.She went on to model, working with Vogue, Gucci, and Adidas, before she was noticed by the producers of...
Why are young people leaving Britain to work abroad?
With rising rents, a tough job market and pay cheques stretched to the limit, some young Britons are choosing to build their futures overseas.According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 195,000 people under the age of 35 moved abroad in the year to June.So where are they going, what are they doing - and will they ever come home?
With rising rents, a tough job market and pay cheques stretched to the limit, some young Britons are choosing to build their futures overseas.According to th...
With rising rents, a tough job market and pay cheques stretched to the limit, some young Britons are choosing to build their futures overseas.According to th...
Joe Tracini: Finding out I've got ADHD has saved my life
Actor Joe Tracini has always felt uncomfortable in his own skin. Growing up in Great Yarmouth, as the son of comedian Joe Pasquale, he was self-conscious and prone to depressive thoughts."I told my first joke on stage at 18 months at one of my dad's gigs," he recalls. "But a lot of my confidence growing up was a front."The only way he could engage with his peers was through his skill for magic tricks. He was relentlessly bullied at school."
'We hate relying on our parents to buy our festival tickets'
Every day, Abi applies for part-time jobs to be a waitress or work in a shop. The 16-year-old, from Colchester, Essex, has made more than 50 job applications recently but has never heard anything back.
I found my secret brother, just in time to make memories
Six years ago, Jess Basey-Fisher was holding her mother's ashes when her father, Nicholas, said he needed to tell her something.He revealed that his wife, Jess's mother, Ann, had kept a secret until the day she died.She had given birth before she met him and put the baby boy up for adoption."From the moment I found out, I was determined to find my older brother," says the 53-year-old nurse, who lives in Carleton St Peter in Norfolk.
Six years ago, Jess Basey-Fisher was holding her mother's ashe...
Six years ago, Jess Basey-Fisher was holding her mother's ashe...
Teachers on strike after 'scissors thrown at them'
When Sophie Walker graduated and became a teacher 10 years ago, she felt excited for the future.But this week the science teacher walked out on strike with 50 colleagues at her Ipswich school in protest at pupil behaviour.Teachers at Westbourne Academy are having chairs and scissors thrown at them, and many are struggling with their mental health, Ms Walker says.Some students are refusing to attend lessons and are disrupting other classes, and even exams, she adds."They go and collect other stud...
The 83-year-old runner who has finished every London Marathon
One week ago, Mac Speake lined up at the start of the London Marathon and prayed his body would carry him to the end. At 83, the retired GP is the eldest of a dwindling band of men, known as the Ever Presents, who have run every London Marathon since it began in 1981.
'Anorexia nearly ruined my life until I started writing recipes'
Becky Excell has felt alone at times in her life, from friendship struggles to a devastating eating disorder. But when she started creating gluten-free recipes, it eventually became a turning point.
Lucy Gossage says the Spine race gave her closure after betrayal
When Lucy Gossage stood on the start line of an ultra-marathon in January, she realised she had already succeeded.
Young men are in crisis due to fatherlessness
Harley Watson was on a path to what he calls a "gangster" life.
The 17-year-old, from Clacton, in Essex, was a "lost and troubled kid", having grown up without a dad.
"I was behaving very badly in school and, if I'd carried on, I would almost certainly have been excluded."
The 17-year-old, from Clacton, in Essex, was a "lost and troubled kid", having grown up without a dad.
"I was behaving very badly in school and, if I'd carried on, I would almost certainly have been excluded."
'We risked everything selling our home to travel'
A couple who "risked it all" by quitting their jobs and selling their home to travel the world with their three children said the adventure had saved them as a family. Chris and Tamira Hutchinson were "living from pay cheque to pay cheque" and barely spent any time together at home in Corby, Northamptonshire.They sold their three-bedroom house almost two years ago and drove straight to the airport to start their new life with their three daughters, Olivia, 10, Scarlett, eight, and Bella, four."As...
'I knew if I died I'd have a million regrets'
Georgie Swallow spent her teenage years feeling insecure about her appearance.Growing up in Iver, Buckinghamshire, she says she wasted so much time trying to lose weight.At the age of 26 she was diagnosed with cancer, which went away but then came back.Now aged 32, her perspective on life has changed and she is sharing her adventures on social media.Here, in her own words, she explains why she wants people to say 'yes' to life.
Georgie Swallow spent her teenage years feeling insecure about her...
Georgie Swallow spent her teenage years feeling insecure about her...
'My autistic sons have taught me so much'
James Hunt used to spend his days commuting to London, where he ran a successful marketing firm. But his children Jude and Tommy were diagnosed as autistic when they were toddlers, and he later decided to care for them and his parents full-time.
Trichotillomania: 'I couldn't stop pulling out my eyelashes'
Four years ago, Isobel Perl was living with friends in London and thriving. She was working for a big accountancy firm and had a busy social life. Then the pandemic hit and she lost her job. Aged 25, she had to move back in with her parents in Watford.She decided to start a skincare brand, despite knowing nothing about the industry. It was a big success until one wrong business decision, which triggered her trichotillomania.
'My house was out of control and I felt ashamed'
Kirstie knew it was time to ask for help, but she was scared. "I was so embarrassed," she says. The mother-of-three's house in Ipswich had got out of control after a traumatic event left her bedbound.
'My sons used to get so many presents but not now'
Catherine seemed to have the perfect life, as a mum with two young boys and a job she loved, managing a bank. But behind closed doors, she was suffering at the hands of her partner.
'I stepped on a bomb in Afghanistan - blind running saved my life'
Wali Noori was working as an interpreter for the British Army in Afghanistan in 2009 when he stepped on an explosive device. The blast left him completely blind at the age of 20. Growing up, he loved running in the mountains of Kabul but Wali thought he would never be able to run again. Here, in his own words, he explains how moving to the UK changed his life and his determination to never give in.
'I started drinking aged 11 and couldn't stop'
Chloe Ward had her first drink at age 11 and alcohol dominated her life for the next decade. She was kicked out of home in Royston, Hertfordshire and ended up living in a car. Two years ago, the now 23-year-old moved to Emmaus Norfolk and Waveney, a former convent where she lives and works with 30 other people who were also previously homeless.
The London Marathon runners proud to be last
Fred Tomlinson says Sunday's London Marathon, his 32nd in a row, was his best one yet, despite the fact he came last and crossed the line on Monday.
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