Ravi took on an incredible ice swimming challenge to raise life-changing money for Beat

Fleur shares how she wrote a song for someone close to her who suffers from an eating disorder.

I had to create a vision board showing things that I wanted to be able to do when I was stronger. I wanted to run.

I understand how the hustle and bustle of Christmas bells and laughter can be so quickly swept away by the intrusion of food-related thoughts that spark from the voice of an eating disorder. I wanted to remind each of you that even though things appear rather dark right now, there is hope!

What a year 2020 has been in general for everyone – it was a year no one ever could have imagined, from panic buying, toilet roll shortages, lockdowns and restrictions. Yet for so many, including me, the battle against an eating disorder continued.

Whatever this Christmas season is like for you, I want to give you hope for the Christmas future. I can't tell you that recovery is linear, or that five years on I don't still have wobbles and moments of doubt. But I can say that all of my efforts, all of the hard work and fear that has gone into my recovery has been worth it.

In the run-up to Christmas, there is a lot to juggle. The gifts we need to buy, the plans we have to make to see loved ones, how we might manage disruptions to our routine - all of these things can be difficult to handle at once.

We might not be able to change the prevalence of eating disorders overnight, but we can improve the system that treats them.

Exam results certainly don’t define you. And exam results that were downgraded according to a dubious algorithm definitely don’t.

I was hugely unhappy and suffering with mental health issues all throughout my teens. In a very dramatic and extreme way, I learned the very hard lesson that I was not able to reach my full potential unless I started to accept and take care of myself.

I reached out to Beat hoping to become a volunteer about six months ago. Before that, I hadn’t heard of the phrase ‘sibling carer’ and had never really thought of myself as being one.

Now, I’m having to source ingredients and make food-related decisions in the moment, thus shaking me from my self-imposed reverie. This, added to my constant fear of someone coughing on me next to the tubs of Hellmans makes what should be a straightforward activity into a frantic, emotionally charged scenario.

Self-isolation is hard for everyone right now; everyone with an eating disorder is aware that there is pressure on every single person’s mental health.

Be kind to yourself and give yourself a break – worrying and feeling guilty about food, exercise and weight gain is not essential and will make an already difficult and anxiety-ridden period worse.

We asked some of our Ambassadors to consider times when they’d dealt with similar situations to what people with eating disorders may be experiencing with coronavirus.

Covid-19 is doing strange things to my perception, my lungs, my mind. And strangely, I am also thinking… “Phew, I’m glad I’ve been locked up before!”

I have also been frustrated with myself for making what I thought was ‘little’ progress in my recovery. However, I now realise that I need to stop criticising myself, and instead be proud of where I am today.

This is an incredibly challenging and stressful time and it may not feel like it right now, but you will look back on these few weeks and months and you’ll be so proud of yourself for getting through this.

Ramadan this year is very different for all Muslim households, as the coronavirus pandemic has dramatically changed everything.

Spreading kindness during this period in time is such a beautiful thing to do not only for those you are offering kindness to but also for your own wellbeing.