Colleague fundraising to answer more calls for support to Mental Health UK’s helplines
The Mental Health UK corporate partnership with Johnson & Johnson UK aims to improve the quality of life of people severely affected by mental illness and reduce pressure on acute clinical services. Through our partnership, we are working on a new model of community care, to provide support for people living with poor mental health, linking them to non-clinical services that meet their holistic needs, including finance, housing and social care.
Joe Cook braves 13 supreme Half-Marathons in 13 days for Mental Health UK
My name is Joe Cook and I work in the J&J Consumer Health team. Over the past year, lockdown has placed significant pressure on everyone’s mental health. I have also seen first-hand how the pandemic has affected close family and friends, bringing home just how prevalent mental health issues are within society. This really struck a chord with me and ultimately inspired me to want to help make a positive change in the mental health landscape.
On 13 March 2021, I started my 13 Half-Marathons in 13 days to raise money for Mental Health UK, running a total distance of 273km and raising £3,847 in under a month which Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health will match to a total of £7,694 in support of the charity.
I had been running regularly over the last few months but I’m by no means an ultra-runner. I have never run a marathon before and felt little bit terrified of the challenge I set myself but also quite excited.
Alongside my day job, I recently took on the responsibility of managing the Mental Health UK partnership on behalf of J&J’s Consumer Health team. This awesome role has allowed me to see first-hand the amazing work Mental Health UK does and inspired me to run the 13 Half-Marathons in 13 Days to increase awareness around mental health and break down some of the underlying stigmas. Importantly, this endeavour has enabled me to raise funds to help empower those who need support to speak about their problems without fear of judgement.
I take pride knowing that the funds raised from my 13 Half-Marathon in 13 Days could help 200 people who are living with a mental health problem get the support they deserve from Mental Health UK’s advice and information helpline, and am hugely grateful to everyone that donated.
Ethicon’s 24h Land’s End to John O’Groats challenge
We’re a friendly team of nine working for the Ethicon franchise, which is part of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies. Our role involves working in hospitals across the North West supporting surgeons and theatre staff during surgical procedures.
Needless to say, the coronavirus outbreak has affected people from all parts of the UK. The support that Mental Health UK provides to people cannot be delivered without the collaboration and commitment of others.
In May 2020, we wanted to challenge ourselves individually and as a team. We were keen to do something that got us asking for each other’s help and working towards the same goal!
The 24-hour Land’s End to John O’Groats team challenge was born. We wanted to represent the spread of the coronavirus through mileage, and we also wanted to represent the uphill struggle of mental health, so we added in an elevation factor to push ourselves even further!
As a team we were so proud to raise £4,489, which was matched by Ethicon to an incredible £8,978. This meant that 240 people living with a mental health problem could turn to Mental Health UK’s advice and information helpline for the support they needed to prevent a mental health crisis, at a time when health services across the country were focusing their efforts on containing the pandemic.
