Sports reporter partners with eating disorders charity

A reporter for Sky Sports has teamed up with eating disorders charity First Steps ED as its first celebrity patron.

Abigail Davies will use her personal experience of eating disorders in partnership with First Steps to raise awareness of the conditions.

She hopes reducing stigma around eating disorders will help break down barriers to people seeking support.

Abigail has suffered with anorexia since childhood and has talked openly about the impact of her recent relapses on her life and work.

She said: “When I was a child, I was initially denied access to treatment for anorexia because I didn’t meet certain rigid criteria.

“Having been through both inpatient and outpatient treatments myself, I’m excited to be working with First Steps ED, who provide different types of support depending on an individual’s need.

“They work to provide fast and wide access at a time when high demand is leading to unacceptably long waiting lists.

“I’ve experienced first-hand how detrimental it can be to wait prolonged periods of time to receive treatment and I’m incredibly passionate about helping to change things and improve access to help, so that others don’t go through what I and many others have had to.

“I know what it’s like to live purely to satisfy the irrational demands of an eating disorder, isolated and numb, but I want to help people to see that it is possible to live a life where you’re not constantly in fear.

“It is possible to experience happiness and importantly, to feel you are worthy of joy and life itself.”

First Steps ED offers psychotherapy, counselling, workshops, peer support and online tools for everyone impacted by eating disorders, including family and loved ones.

The charity was established in 2004 to support people with eating disorders in Derby, but it now has staff across the Midlands and provides support to people across the UK.

Daniel Magson, chief executive of First Steps ED, said: “Abigail has already done so much to raise awareness of eating disorders by talking publicly about her experience with anorexia, and we’re grateful she’s giving even more of her time to support our cause.

“We’re looking forward to working with her to build on this awareness, and, together, tackling some big issues like the influence of social media in eating disorders and how to meet ever-rising demand for services like ours.”