Mid-Ulster Ulster Unionist MLA, Sandra Overend, has supported Eating Disorder Group, Stamp ED, by helping them launch their book with a difference at Stormont today. Members of StampED revealed ‘The Rain Before the Rainbow’, a book written as a result of their experiences, at Parliament Buildings ahead of Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW), which runs from 23 February to 1 March 2015.

Mrs Overend said:

“Eating disorders are experienced by so many people in our society.  Different people are affected in different ways and each sufferer needs support that is unique to them. This group has come together in using creativity to express their feelings and the root of their problems. They have successfully brought it all together in a book, aptly named, 'The Rain before the Rainbow'.

“I was delighted to host the launch of ‘The Rain Before the Rainbow’, a book created by the members of StampED, an eating disorder support group based in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust area, which tells of their experiences.

“The mission of StampED is to help to stamp out eating disorders from the lives of sufferers and their families, friends and carers. They exist to promote awareness of the signs and symptoms of an eating disorder, and to provide the crucial support, understanding and advice for adults with a severe eating disorder and their families.

“The Rain Before the Rainbow’ project has been about providing support and channelling the efforts of eating disorder sufferers into creative writing. It has allowed participants to turn a negative into a positive, to help themselves and help others, and the result of that is the book launched at Stormont today.

“This has been made possible through funding from Arts Care Northern Ireland, the Northern Health and Social Care Trust and the Arts Council. The members of StampED were keen to emphasise just how important that funding and this project has been in the lives of those that have been touched by an eating disorder.

“I sincerely commend the achievements of the StampED members and their families who made this book possible, and as we approach Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) which will run from 23 February to 1 March 2015, we must be mindful that all of us can play our part in stamping out eating disorders, and the first step in this process should be awareness.”