Category: Fundraising

We’ve often heard the phrase ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ but who exactly do we reach out to? Sometimes it can feel easier connecting with people who don’t know us than it does with our own friends and family. Kiran recently participated in our fundraising event GLOW, a 20km night walk through London, where everyone is free to share their mental health experiences in a safe place. She tells us how she never felt judged and simply felt compassion and understanding from the people around her.

Every year hundreds of people come together in London to take part in Mental Health UK’s flagship event, GLOW – a 20km night walk to raise money for vital services supporting people affected by mental health problems across the UK. Everyone has a deeply personal motivation for taking part.

We don’t need to be physically isolated to feel lonely. The festive season can highlight feelings of loneliness for many people, even when other people are around them. We hear from Dianne and Carlos about how they experience loneliness over Christmas.

Tara is one of many who struggle with their mental health during Christmas. For Tara, she feels lonely and isolated during the festive season due to society’s expectations that she should enjoy herself and be happy, despite everything she has been through.

Men are statistically less likely to talk about mental health. Initiatives such as Bank of America’s ‘walk and talk’ group are aiming to change this. We caught up with a colleague from the bank, Keith, about his experience participating in a recent walk, and how this has positively impacted his wellbeing and supported him to open up more.

Colleagues from our partner at Dune London have been raising funds for Mental Health UK in a unique and exhilarating way, by skydiving. We caught up with some of the skydivers to hear how their experience went, from gathering donations to how it felt moments before the big event itself.

The people who fundraise for us, often are living with mental health conditions or know someone who is. That’s why we aim for our events to be a safe space where people can be their full selves and feel part of a community. Hear from Steph as she tells us about her recent experience participating in our event, GLOW.

UCL Dance Society decided to dedicate their annual ‘Blooms’ performance to explore the theme of mental health in their show aptly named ‘Breathe’. We spoke to Alkistis who explained why, as young adults, mental health is high on the society’s radar, and how the cast used movement to convey emotions and thoughts.

Katie left for Africa at the end of March with a clear target in mind – to spend four days trekking in one of the world’s harshest environments, the Sahara desert, to raise money for Mental Health UK. Katie shared with us the highs and lows of her incredible journey and how it both empowered and challenged her mentally.

Since returning after a 10-year hiatus, the band Doves planned a grand UK tour to take place in 2022, only to announce some time later that all dates would be cancelled due to lead signer Jimi Goodwin experiencing poor mental health. Keen music fan Chris Kelly, struck by Jimi’s story of honesty and full with compassion, decided to fundraise for Mental Health UK by releasing cover songs of some of the band’s well-loved singles.

Fundraiser, Luke Hamer tells us why putting his mental health first made him stronger – as part of our World Mental Health Day campaign encouraging people to make their mental health a priority.

Last year, Kenzie and her family took on the challenge of climbing the Yorkshire Three Peaks to raise money for Mental Health UK. Kenzie sadly lost her mum to suicide, and was keen to raise awareness around mental health and tackle a challenge to push her own mental strength.

Ben Banaghan is running the equivalent of 2 marathons a day for 18 days in support of Mental Health UK and Join Our Boys Trust. Gearing up to take on the mammoth challenge, Ben spoke to us about how he plans to stay mentally fit, as well as physically before the event starts this September.

Gill took part in the Great Scottish Run 10k for Mental Health UK in 2019 raising over £800 to help people affected by mental health problems. She told us why she got involved, as well as why this race was so important to her and her recovery.