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One of our founding partners, Rethink Mental Illness, provides the Advice and Information Service (RAIS) – a helpline that offers practical help with a range of topics, as well as advising people affected by mental illness of their rights, helping them identify their options and empowering them to take action. Supporting the small team of staff (Advice and Information Officers) who run the service, is a large team of volunteers who equip people with the information they need to get the right help. Together, the RAIS volunteers and staff make an invaluable contribution to the service.

This Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June 2021), we’re exploring the mutually beneficial experience of giving your time to volunteering. Sarah, our fantastic colleague and Partnerships Manager, shares her story of how her endeavours helping others ultimately helped her.

Johnston Connelly is our Events Fundraising and Engagement Officer and a valued colleague of ours. While on furlough last year, he decided to learn something new and teach himself to sew. Noticing his newfound sense of purpose, Johnston had an appetite to take his sewing to the next level and started to immerse himself in YouTube videos and sewing books to build on his skills. His new project had a profound and lasting impact on his wellbeing - Johnston told us that he finds sewing relaxing and rewarding, and that he'd love to have his own fashion design business one day. He's already started making his own clothes... Sew far sew good!

Rosie Robson is an Account Executive and one of the UK hub leads for the ‘Be Wellness’ team at Salesforce, our valued corporate partners. We recently teamed up with Salesforce, supporting them as they launched a global wellness initiative. They managed to encourage 350 people to exercise over 21 days in an effort to keep fit, socialise and raise vital funds for the people we support. We were so impressed that they raised an incredible £2,500 and even managed to build a running community at work, maintaining their fitness levels beyond the event. Hear from Rosie below on how important being active is for everyone at Salesforce.

Kathy O’Callaghan was a loving aunt and a wonderful friend to Laura. After she took her own life in October 2020, Laura and her good friend Jane decided to take action and raise awareness around mental health, in her memory. They took on a 27km walking challenge on the beautiful island of Lanzarote, wanting to do something that enhanced their fitness and made them feel both physically and mentally good. And they managed to raise an astonishing €2,773! Jane tells us their story and explains why this walk was so important to her and Laura.

We're teaming up with award-winning artist Paul Cummins MBE on a campaign to help the public to spring into action this Mental Health Awareness Week and create healthy dialogues around mental health in society.

Our partnership with Innovation Broking enables us to talk to senior leaders and decision makers, from a wide range of organisations, about the importance of protecting employee mental health as much as physical health.

This Stress Awareness Month we’ve teamed up with online designer outlet Secret Sales for an exclusive campaign to promote better mental health for everyone. Thanks to our partner Savoo, the online money saving platform, we’re delighted to give you an even easier way to support us and help us bring awareness to the effects and signs of stress and stress-related conditions.

Mental Health UK has today published a joint open letter with fellow leaders in the sector thanking charity workers and volunteers for their service during the Covid-19 pandemic and emphasising that supporting their mental health and wellbeing must be a "national priority".