This year the theme for Mental Health Awareness Week is loneliness. Mental Health UK are encouraging individuals, businesses, and communities to look at how we can tackle loneliness and equip ourselves with the tools to help people live a fulfilled life with meaningful connections within our communities, workplaces, families & friendships.

Below we share our ideas about how you can get involved with Mental Health Awareness Week:

• Raise awareness about how to overcome feelings of loneliness. Visit our loneliness page here and share our downloadable tips with your friends, family, and colleagues.

• Wondering how to start a conversation with someone about mental health? Visit Mental Health UK’s website here to donload their Conversation Guide: A Guide to Talking to Someone about Mental Health.

• Gather your friends or colleagues and print out our positive affirmation cards. Colour them in giving an opportunity for people to talk about mental health. Encourage people to give the affirmation they have coloured to someone they would like to encourage. Download our affirmations here.

• Book in to one of our Ramblers Wellbeing Walks, a great opportunity to meet new people and make meaningful connections whilst enjoying the benefits of being in nature. Click here for more information and to book.

• Volunteering your time individually, with friends or as colleagues not only helps build meaningful connections within your team but also helps build others up in the community. Ask your team for ideas about where and how they would like to volunteer. For our current volunteer opportunities visit our Volunteer page here.

• Do you have neighbours who live alone? You could host a supper club, inviting your neighbours to join you and bring something along to contribute. A great opportunity to build meaningful connections within your local community, helping to overcome feelings of loneliness.

• Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and share our Mental Health Awareness Tips to help raise awareness.

• Challenge yourself, family friends and your colleagues to walk or run 5k together one day this May. An opportunity to build meaningful connections with one another and boost your physical wellbeing whilst raising vital funds for your local mental health charity. Set up your fundraising page via our Give as You Live Page here.

• Create a calm and reflective wellbeing space within your workplace, a safe place for people to be mindful, recharge and talk. You could put positive affirmations on the walls, have a range of our tip sheets for people to take, print out our mindful colouring and provide a selection of nice pencil crayons for people to use to colour them in.

• Looking for ways to engage your organisation with Mental Health Awareness Week? Book a 60 minute virtual session for up to 50 attendees with transformational coach, Anita Guru, to help open up conversations about mental health in the workplace? The session will include Anita’s personal story, what worked for her with an opportunity for Q&As for a suggested donation of £350. For more information and bookings, email [email protected]

• Developing mental health awareness and training in the workplace is one way we can change the experience of people affected by mental health difficulties. Visit our Workplace Wellbeing Page here for more information about the courses we offer and to make an enquiry today.

The coronavirus pandemic is having a huge impact on mental health

Help us be there for those who are struggling to cope during this critical time