For one Faversham teenager, turning 16 will be a poignant day as she prepares to do a skydive in memory of her father.

Jodi Wade, 15, who lives in Millfield, wants people to understand mental health better after her father Kevin committed suicide when she was just 11.

He had suffered from depression, and in the years since his death in 2014, Jodi, her mother Julie, and siblings Leah, 24, and 22-year-old Jack have also gone on to struggle with depression and anxiety.

Jodi said: “My whole family have suffered with mental health problems.

"It’s meant that I haven’t been to school a lot, so it’s had an impact on my education.

“But I don’t think it’s understood. People hear about it, but I don’t think they understand what it’s really like.

“I don’t think people make enough effort to help people with their mental health.”

Having wanted to do a skydive for years, Jodi, who starts her final year at the Abbey School in September, will finally be able to after her 16th birthday on September 29.

She hopes to raise £1,000 for the Mental Health Foundation, which works to prevent mental health problems.

Jodi said: “I was normal to begin with. I acted for a while like nothing was wrong.

“I have been trying to talk about it more to people. With the right people, it helps" - Jodi Wade

“It’s only recently that it’s all got to me. But I feel like I’m getting a lot better.

“I have been trying to talk about it more to people.

“With the right people, it helps.”

Jodi, who wants to train as a hairdresser when she finishes school, will be doing the skydive in Headcorn, near Maidstone, on October 6.

Her mother, Julie, said: “Because you can’t really see [a mental health problem], a lot of people don’t get it.

“With her father, you would never have known anything was wrong with him. He was the most happy person.

“She’s braver than I am. I feel very proud of her.”

n Sponsor Jodi at Jodi's JustGiving page.