Bishop's Stortford woman honours friend who took her own life with fundraising summer ball for mental health causes

A Bishop's Stortford woman's tribute to a childhood friend has raised £3,000 for mental health charities.

The efforts of Stephanie Goody, 22, culminated in a summer ball at Great Hadham Country Club on Saturday (June 25) to honour Pia Wojcik-Coe.

The pair were pals when they were in the same year at the former Newport Free Grammar School, now the Joyce Frankland Academy, in Newport, near Saffron Walden.

Stephanie, an administration assistant, was devastated to learn that her "beautiful and smart" friend took her own life at the end of 2019.

After Pia's death in Hemel Hempstead, Stephanie was determined to raise money for Mind as a memorial, but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the ball until this summer.

She said: "Pia was a beautiful and smart young lady. She always cared for her friends and would never fail to put a smile on your face.

"Growing up into my twenties without her has been painful, to say the least, and I've seen the effect this loss has had on her other friends, her family members and all that were lucky enough to have known her."

Stephanie, who shares a home in Stortford with partner Liam Sellen, said that her aim was not just to raise money for the charities but to highlight the issue of mental illness, remove the stigma and advocate for support.

"When we think of mental health, we often either have our own struggles or a loved one's name in mind," she said. "Instead of fighting a battle alone, we should all come together as a community and support one another, and above all remember that in a world where you can be anything, be kind.

"We never know what any one of us is going through at any given time, so by doing our own part in our community and our own acts of daily kindness, we can help to make our world a better place. Even just a smile can brighten the dark clouds in someone's day."

Stephanie regretted that Pia had put on a brave face and masked her sadness rather than confiding in her friends. "She never really gave us a chance to help her," she said.

The success of the ball means that she will be able to donate to both Mind Hertfordshire and Mind UK, with the proceeds from photo sales set to boost the total further.

She said: "Special thanks go to Amy Carpenter, of AJC Photography, the local restaurants and shops who kindly donated vouchers to my raffle and to Prontaprint in town who generously donated their printing services and did all my brochures for me for the event – and to Debbie at Great Hadham for working with me over the last few years to put on this event at their venue."

To boost the fundraising total, email sg009685@gmail.com for details of how to donate.