Emma Damiral-Wood and Chai the cat at the Canterbury Tails Cat Cafe

City’s traders #WearItBlue to champion mental health

Community groups and businesses across Canterbury are supporting a campaign to encourage positive conversations around mental health.

One in four of us will suffer with our mental health at some point in our lives so this Mental Health Awareness Week – 13-19 May, 2024 – East Kent Mind wants readers to become an Ambassador of the charity and and help raise the profile of wellbeing – because the more we normalise conversations about mental health the easier it will be to remove its stigma.

Linda at L’Occitane in Canterbury

You can help by rallying your friends and work colleagues to don blue for a day and post a group selfie on social media – don’t forget to follow and tag East Kent Mind’s local social media profile into your post @EastKentMind as well as use the hashtag #WearItBlue so we can spot and reshare your post.

Simon Dolby from East Kent Mind said: “Just as important as raising the profile of our charity is raising funds for us. Perhaps you could hold a collection, bake and sell cakes or take on a sponsored event? So as well as Wear  It Blue – perhaps add on Bake It Blue!

“Whatever you do to help us support mental health services in our local area, we are very grateful!”

An estimated 2 million people are on waiting lists for NHS mental health services across the country. Since 2017, the number of young people struggling with their mental health has nearly doubled. People tell us they feel overwhelmed and hopeless, that things will never change.

Click here to create your fundraising page on JustGiving.

www.justgiving.com/campaign/WearItBlueforMindinBexleyandEastKent 

Please note: Your JustGiving fundraising page must link to Mind in Bexley and East Kent otherwise the funds you raise will not be spend in our local area. If you just select Mind it will go to the national charity – a separate organisation – and not be spent in our community. Keep it local!