Lord Mayor’s delight at Ambassador success

Volunteers who joined East Kent Mind’s Wellbeing Ambassador initiative attended a special badging ceremony this week.

Two dozen Ambassadors from local colleges, universities and businesses were presented with their Wellbeing Ambassador certificate and badge by the Lord Mayor of Canterbury, Cllr Keji Moses at an event staged at the Hampton by Hilton Hotel in Canterbury.

The Lord Mayor selected East Kent Mind as her Charity of the Year and challenged the charity to sign up, train and support 100 Wellbeing Ambassadors. At the ceremony Simon Dolby from the charity announced that they had smashed the target and 140 had been recruited.

The initiative provides mental health training to enable ambassadors to support their peers as well as their own wellbeing, alongside a host of volunteering opportunities, which include stewarding at fun runs and prestigious awards events, supporting the charity’s social media activity and delivering wellbeing activities.

A version of the project is now being used in secondary schools, supported by Wellbeing Ambassadors, who will join charity staff to deliver presentations to students on everyday mental health, recruit student Wellbeing Ambassadors to support their work at school, as well as to run a campus campaign to encourage positive conversations around mental health.

East Kent Mind works with Revival Food and Mood to support the mental health of people living in the Canterbury district.

To find out more about the initiative or to apply to join visit: www.eastkentmind.org.uk/ambassador

Staff and students from EKC Canterbury College