Exactly one year ago, on a trip to Spain, I noticed the first bald patch on the top of my head. That very moment while stood in a blue suit in a changing room, unbeknown to me at the time, kicked off a year long journey with a condition known as ‘Alopecia Areata’. An autoimmune disease where hair follicles are attacked by the immune system causing hair loss in the form of circular bald patches.

Over the course of the next few months, I would say I lost 60% of hair on my right side and it truly has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to deal with. For so many of us, our hair almost defines us and losing it is almost like losing a part of your identity. I have friends and family who have lost hair through post partum after having a baby, male friends and relatives who have suffered from male pattern baldness and sadly those who have lost it during chemotherapy. Whatever the journey, it’s incredibly debilitating and speaking from my own experience, the knock in confidence is incredibly hard to deal with.

And that brings me on to the 14th December 2025 when I will be running the Malaga Marathon with my Mum & Aunt for Alopecia UK. If you can spare anything to this wonderful charity, I will be forever grateful. And if this post has helped just one person in their own hair loss journey, then it’s done its job. Diane x Sandford