Blog

The Covid-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the mental health and wellbeing of people across the globe. But as we return to a semblance of the lives we had pre-Covid, we are being gripped by an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis in this country.

Scotland’s land mass is classified as 98% rural with circa 1 million people living there. National Charity, Change Mental Health, emphasise the need to support people with their mental health no matter where they live in Scotland.

Beyond Bricks was launched by our founding partner in Northern Ireland, MindWise in January 2022 and was made possible thanks to fundraising by colleagues at Lloyds Banking Group. We spoke to Children and Young People Programmes Coordinator, Amy, from MindWise about the brilliant work she’s been doing to make Beyond Bricks happen.

Heading off on annual leave should be an exciting moment in your work calendar. A moment of respite, when you can switch off and feel assured you’re leaving your work and pending actions in safe hands. However, often the weeks that bookmark this protected time are chaotic, with overtime and meeting-heavy days exacerbating stress levels and sometimes even leading us to question if it’s worth taking leave at all. In this piece, experts from Mental Health UK explore their top tips on what you and your colleagues can do to make time off truly relaxing and carefree.

Some people associate their happiest memories with long summer days and experiencing the benefits of the warmer months. However for people with anxiety disorders, the heat may increase their symptoms of anxiety, and the summer months can feel the most difficult to face. 

Body image is a combination of the thoughts and feeling we have about ourselves physically. Experiencing anxiety or low mood relating to our body image is not a mental health condition in itself but can contribute to other mental health conditions like depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Below we explore this topic and speak to Rebecca about her experience of body negativity.

Your Resilience is Mental Health UK’s education programme that supports 14-18 -year-olds to develop the tools and knowledge on managing their own mental health through life’s transitions, both now and in the future.

Ramses Oliva is a valued former colleague at Mental Health UK, as well as a transgender inclusion specialist and writer. One of his biggest struggles growing up was not having the words to describe his identity. Not only did this not stop him from being gay and transgender, but it also made it extremely difficult to ask for and receive help. Here’s his story.

Living with a mental illness can have a profound effect on your own life but also on family members’ lives, because they often take on a vital role in ensuring their relative has a good quality life. We spoke to Rich and his dad about what it was like living in a house where OCD dictated their day-to-day life.

At Mental Health UK, our partnerships are true partnerships. They work two ways so that both we and our partners benefit from the relationship, and we think strategically about the different ways in which we can work together. Our partnership with RBH Hospitality Management is a fantastic demonstration of this.

Mental Health UK has partnered with ITN Productions Industry News to produce Play Your Part, a digital news-style programme presented by Dr Sian Williams, highlighting how everyone has a role to play when it comes to the future of mental health.

My name is Jade, and I’m the Navigator for the North Wales region. I’m based in Porthmadog, Gwynedd within a resource centre operated by Adferiad. I also work in the resource centre supporting people with mental health issues, so the navigator role fits in well alongside this other role.

During the pandemic, the number of us working from home skyrocketed. For some of us, this change became permanent and the new normal. Whether it’s a couple of days a week or every day, many of us are still working from home and experiencing the isolation that can come with it. Evie, 30, from rural Norfolk, shared her experience of loneliness with us, and what she has found helpful to keep more connected.

Living and working rurally can bring added challenges to the sense of loneliness we’re all susceptible to. Thanks to our partner Neptune Energy we were able to fund our Rural Connections programme, delivered by our founding charity Change Mental Health, to help build mental health awareness and address isolation in areas like rural Scotland. We spoke to Iona from Creatomatic, a web design and development agency in Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, about their experience of the programme.

Our valued supporter, Darren Drudge, works as Customer Services Assistant for our partner Lloyds Banking Group. Sophia from our Communications team spoke to him about his experiences of the pandemic and how his dad’s mental illness affected his own mental health and led him to feel alone. His recent participation in March Around The World, a work fundraising event, enabled him to expand his network locally and get things back on track.