Why I’m Asking for Your Support for the Next Phase of Dump the Scales
- Dump the Scales
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
A Message from Hope Virgo
Founder of Dump the Scales and Secretariat of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Eating Disorders
Six years ago, I started the #DumpTheScales campaign with a simple goal: to change the conversation around eating disorders. I wrote the first campaign messaging on a napkin in a pub and didn’t think that I would be still be campaigning this many years later!
At the time when Dump The Scales launched as a petition, I was incredibly frustrated. Frustrated by how misunderstood eating disorders were. Frustrated by the lack of support available. And frustrated by how many people were being turned away from treatment simply because they didn’t fit a narrow stereotype of what an eating disorder “looks like”.
The sad reality is, I am still frustrated and angry years later.
What started as a campaign driven by lived experience has since grown into something much bigger than I ever imagined. Today, Dump the Scales is a movement made up of people with lived experience, carers, clinicians, researchers and advocates who all share the same belief: that everyone deserves access to proper eating disorder support.
But the reality is that we are still a long way from that.
Eating disorders are among the most serious and life-threatening mental illnesses. Yet they continue to be overlooked, underfunded and misunderstood.
Across the UK, people are waiting months, sometimes years, to access treatment. Many are turned away entirely because they are told they are “not ill enough”. Others are left trying to navigate an incredibly complex system with little support.
Behind every statistic is a person. A family. A story.
Over the years through #DumpTheScales I have met thousands of people affected by eating disorders. People who feel invisible in the system. Parents desperately trying to get help for their children. Adults who have spent years cycling in and out of services.
These stories are the reason this campaign exists.
What began as a small campaign has grown into a national movement pushing for real change.
Together, we have:
Brought eating disorders into conversations in Parliament
Challenged stigma in the media
Built a growing community of people who want change
Organised national events like the #DumpTheScales march
Created spaces where lived experience is valued and heard
But the work is far from finished. A few weeks ago I heard someone say that we had as much funding as big organisations like BEAT but this couldn’t be further from the truth. We have achieved all of this without earning anything for ourselves but launching new projects and exciting ambitious things to transform this space is not sustainable. We currently go from month to month fundraising.
For the past six years, this campaign has been run by volunteers. People who care deeply about this issue and give their time alongside jobs, families and their own recovery journeys.
Now we want to take the campaign to the next level but we need support to do that. The funds we are raising will help us continue the work that so many people rely on, including:
Organising the annual #DumpTheScales March
Running the Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Eating Disorders
Developing resources and campaigns to push for policy change
This next phase is about turning awareness into system change and we need to raise £20,000 to make this possible by April 1st.
This campaign is deeply personal.
As someone who has experienced an eating disorder, I know how isolating and frightening these illnesses can be. I also know how difficult it can be to get help. I also hear first-hand every day how little support there is for people affected by eating disorders. People being told they are not thin enough, told they are too complex.
The beauty of Dump The Scales CIC is that we don’t get funding from the NHS or the Government and so are able to speak up and call out every single bit of bad practise.
If you believe that people with eating disorders deserve better, I would love your support.
By contributing to our crowdfunding campaign, you are helping us continue building a movement that challenges stigma, influences policy and pushes for better services across the UK.
Most importantly, you are helping ensure that people affected by eating disorders are no longer ignored.
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