Career
In 2008 he founded Men Get Eating Disorders Too (MGEDT) which in December 2010 became a registered charity in the United Kingdom. "Beat" is the working name of the Eating Disorders Association. Sam was also shortlisted in the Young Philanthropist/Activist category for the Beacon Prize 2010. Sam developed bulimia himself when he was a teenager.
This was a response to mainly homophobic bullying he suffered at school.
He has used his experience to develop an information resource to enable men living with eating disorders to offer one another peer-to-peer support and to improve levels of awareness and understanding throughout society. As reported in the Brighton Argus, he launched the MGEDT website with support from Independent Television Fixers, a project run in the various regions of the United Kingdom national commercial television channel, Independent Television, which enables young people in the United Kingdom to make a difference by tackling a social problem.
The MGEDT campaign has featured in several national newspapers, in which Thomas has commented. A report in The Independent stated that one in ten men may suffer from anorexia or bulimia, to which Thomas said was "the tip of the iceberg".
During 2012 the charity is compiling a petition of at least 100,000 signatures to try and persuade the United Kingdom Government to improve services provided for Eating Disorders sufferers.
Sam featured on British Broadcasting Corporation 1"s "Inside Out" programme in January 2012 to further raise awareness of eating disorders in men, in particular the barriers sufferers faced seeking help. Other media coverage featured Sam on Independent Television 1"s Daybreak in November 2012 and Channel 4"s Supersize vs Superskinny in January 2013. Profile: Sam Thomas
Men"s Eating Disorders website launched,
Fixer wins Talktalk Digital Heroes Award,
"25 years of The Independent on Sunday: The stories, the writers and the changes over the last quarter of a century".
The Independent.
25 January 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015. a b Eating Disorders Men launch petition.