Every May, the Mental Health Foundation gets the whole nation talking about achieving good mental health during Mental Health Awareness Week, with a view to normalise those conversations and get people to realise that, well, we all have to look after our mental health!
This year, the theme is loneliness, how it affects our mental wellbeing, or how experiencing mental health challenges can make us feel lonely and isolated, and what we can do about it. Loneliness is a topic which often comes back in our group conversations, especially since the start of the pandemic which brought us all closer to feelings of isolation, so we wanted to give everyone a platform to discuss this important issue.
From 9 until 15 May, we will be organising a series of events and activities to raise awareness of the support we have available to people feeling lonely, as well as reflect on how we can reduce loneliness, and help ourselves and each other when loneliness affects us. We will also be sharing some wonderful content on our website and social media about loneliness written and drawn by members of our Arts and Creative Writing groups – so make sure to check it out!
Join our events or activities on the week of 9-15 May 2022
AWARENESS EVENT
On Tuesday 10 May, 11am-1pm we will be at the Swan Shopping Centre in Leatherhead listening to you, raising awareness of our services, distributing leaflets and activities calendars, and giving out seeds and pots for planting at home, as part of our Green Social Prescribing Project to connect people to nature.
Alongside our partners at Swan Shopping Centre, we will also be inaugurating a new “Friendship Bench” outside Boots to invite people to share a smile or a word with a stranger and make their day. We will put a gift on the bench each day that week to incite people to sit and talk to someone. The bench will stay decorated for a month to help reduce loneliness. Do come find us and sit with us if you are passing by!
Our partners at anti-stigma and discrimination campaign Time to Change Surrey will also be present to raise awareness of how to change attitudes towards mental health in Surrey and offer free mental health training.
PEER SUPPORT GROUPS
The following peer support groups will include conversations about how to reduce loneliness on the week of 9-15 May:
MEDITATION
EXTENDED WELLBEING WALKS
OTHER ACTIVITIES HAPPENING THAT WEEK
To book yourself on any of these activities, you need to register as a client of MFT and then contact our office at info@maryfrancestrust.org.uk or on 01372 375400 or text 07929 024 722.
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On the Mental Health Foundation’s website you can find:
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