Buckinghamshire Mind has organised a diverse range of activities to raise awareness, provide support and tackle stigma and discrimination on World Mental Health Day, 10th October 2018. These include: Sir Anthony Seldon visiting Buckinghamshire Mind to meet with service users and volunteers; mental health awareness stalls in Aylesbury’s Market Square and High Wycombe Library; an invitation to Buckinghamshire schools to hold a mufti day for World Mental Health Day; the launch of Friends in Need Bucks and a bucket collection at Sainsbury’s Beaconsfield.

Sir Anthony Seldon, Buckinghamshire Mind’s Patron and Vice Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, will be visiting the charity’s Wellbeing Services in Aylesbury on World Mental Health Day. Sir Anthony will meet with service users and volunteers while also listening to music performed by Buckinghamshire Mind’s therapeutic music group and enjoying art produced by the charity’s art groups in Aylesbury, High Wycombe and Chesham.

In addition, Buckinghamshire Mind, in partnership with Time to Change Bucks, will be holding a stall in the Market Square, Aylesbury, and in High Wycombe Library on World Mental Health Day. The stalls aim to raise awareness, tackle the stigma and discrimination associated with mental health problems and provide information about Buckinghamshire Mind’s mental health services. Time to Change Champions, such as Buckinghamshire Mind’s Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees Martyn Walsh, will be available to talk with the public about their lived experience of mental health problems.

“The Buckinghamshire Mind market stall in Aylesbury on 10th October is going to be a great opportunity for Time to Change Champions, like myself, to help others, to educate and to spread awareness,” says Martyn Walsh, Time to Change Champion and Vice Chair of Buckinghamshire Mind’s Board of Trustees. “This World Mental Health Day, let’s get talking about our mental health in the same way that we talk about our physical health.”

Find out more about Time to Change Bucks at: www.timetochangebucks.org

Schools across the county have been invited to hold a mufti day on World Mental Health Day in aid of Buckinghamshire Mind. The aim is to raise awareness of mental health wellbeing amongst school children while also raising vital funds for the charity’s mental health services. The first five schools to contact Buckinghamshire Mind will receive a free mental health awareness assembly, which will be tailored to each school’s needs.

Mental health problems affect about 1 in 10 children and young people, which is as many as three children in every class. Buckinghamshire Mind aims to address this by raising awareness of mental health within schools, promoting mental health wellbeing for children and tackling stigma by helping children to understand what a mental health problem is and to talk about mental health. Schools interested in holding a mufti day and receiving a free assembly should email [email protected]

Furthermore, Friends in Need Bucks, a peer support service provided by Buckinghamshire Mind to help members manage depression and anxiety, will be officially launching on 12th October at Buckinghamshire Mind’s premises in High Wycombe. The event will be an opportunity to showcase some of the wonderful activities provided by Friends in Need, including belly dancing and singing. There will be a talk from a Friends in Need Peer Volunteer about the value of volunteering and all current volunteers will be presented with a certificate of appreciation. To find out more about this invaluable peer support service, please click here

Finally, Buckinghamshire Mind will be holding a bucket collection at Sainsbury’s Beaconsfield on Saturday 13th October. The supermarket’s customers have chosen Buckinghamshire Mind as Sainsbury’s Beaconsfield’s chosen charity for 2018/19 and this will be the first of many fundraising events in aid of Buckinghamshire Mind’s vital mental health services.