Mental Health Awareness Week 2020
With Mental Health Awareness week running from 18th-24th May, Stoll would like to draw attention to the work of the Mental Health Foundation and to what we have planned throughout the week to promote better mental health across our community.
Since 1949, the Mental Health Foundation has been the UK’s leading charity on mental health. With prevention at the heart of what they do, their aim is to find and address the sources of mental health problems so that people and communities can thrive. Their chosen theme for this year is Kindness.
For more information on the Mental Health Foundation please follow the link here.
Why kindness?
We have chosen kindness because of its singular ability to unlock our shared humanity. Kindness strengthens relationships, develops community and deepens solidarity. It is a cornerstone of our individual and collective mental health. Wisdom from every culture across history recognises that kindness is something that all human beings need to experience and practise to be fully alive.
Celebrate kindness
But we also want to shine a light on the ways that kindness is already flowering at this time. We have seen it in the dancing eyes of 100-year-old Captain Tom Moore as he walked his garden to raise money for the NHS and in the mutual aid groups responding to local needs. We want that kindness to spread further in every community in the UK.
Finally, we want to use the week to explore the sort of society we would like to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.
Kindness and Mental Health
Kindness is defined by doing something towards yourself and others, motivated by genuine desire to make a positive difference. We know from the research that kindness and our mental health are deeply connected. The research shows that kindness is an antidote to isolation and creates a sense of belonging. It helps reduce stress, brings a fresh perspective and deepens friendships. Kindness to ourselves can prevent shame from corroding our sense of identity and help boost our self-esteem. Kindness can even improve feelings of confidence and optimism.
Kindness is an act of courage
But kindness is an intrinsically risky endeavour. It can risk us looking foolish or being taken advantage of, which is why we sometimes retreat. To receive or to give kindness is an act of courage. We want to use Mental Health Awareness Week to support each other to take that brave step and harness the benefits for both giver and receiver.
A kinder society?
We have a once in a generation opportunity not only during but also following this pandemic for a reset and re-think about what kind of society we want to emerge from this crisis
What we are doing at Stoll?
Throughout this week, our staff will be offering various additional activities to show their support for our tenants.
- We’ll be calling all tenants this week as part of Mental Health Awareness Week to ‘check in’ with them.
- Our Support staff will engaging in a ‘random act of kindness’ initiative across all of our sites.
- Our Health and Wellbeing Team will be distributing our remaining copies of Liggy Webb’s Mental Health booklet that were kindly donated to us.
For more resources and information from Liggy Webb’s Mental Health booklets, please follow the link to here website here.