Ashleigh Coyle set to climb Mount Errigal to raise awareness around mental health issues after sharing her own battle with anxiety

A Derry beauty queen is to climb a Donegal mountain to raise awareness about mental health issues.

Ashleigh Coyle is set to represent Derry the Miss International UK finals in Lancashire in June.

She is a well-known face having come second in the popular reality show, Big Brother, in 2014.

However, having spoken publicly about problems with her mental health in an effort to remove stigma and encourage others to share their problems and seek help, she is now dedicating her year as Miss Derry International to raising awareness on mental health issues.

She has decided to work alongside a new Derry mental health charity, Me4Mental and Aurora Counselling.

Ashleigh is part of a group who will climb Mount Errigal on May 7 to raise money for the groups.

She is organising the #ClimbForHope to help Me4Mental achieve their aim of getting a building to create a 24 hour ‘safe space’ for those who are emotionally distressed and to aid the work of Aurora Counselling.

Ashleigh told the Derry News how she first shared her feelings via a blog post last summer.

“I suffer from quite bad anxiety,” she said.

“When I left Big Brother, I worked 14-16 hour days, most days with no days off and attended events regularly and did have a very good life; I really enjoyed everything I was doing.

“Then just under a year after I had left, I hit a wall. I stopped working, stopped socialising, it was so bad at one stage that I didn't leave the house and wouldn't answer my phone. This went on for just over a year and I started to get slightly better, this is when I spoke out publicly for the first time by releasing a blog post last summer.

“But unfortunately my anxiety hit the roof soon after this again and I was quite ill for some time and wasn't in the right place to create the awareness that I originally had intended. So since the start of November I've really been focusing on myself and concentrating on methods to improve my own mental health.”

She continued: “The statistics are absolutely shocking regarding mental health in Northern Ireland and even worse in Derry, it's so upsetting.

“It may sound cheesy to some but I want people to know that everyone has someone.”

Ashleigh said that she hopes to help address the lack of resources for people suffering with mental health issues in the city.

“I have decided to do a fundraiser for this charity to help them get off the ground.

“If anyone would like to participate they can contact me via my personal Facebook page by mentioning #ClimbForHope and anyone who is not taking part but would like to donate to our target, they can do this via the link fundrazr.com/01Dv15?ref=ab_e6YZ82.”