West Sussex Mind's anti-stigma project is using the theme of this year's Mental Health Awareness Week (May 10-16) - Nature - to help people move back into our community, connect and find support for better mental health.
Knowing that many people have been struggling with their mental health, some of them for the first time, the campaign aims to ensure people know where to get support, and ensure that stigma doesn't prevent them from getting what they need.
The Moving Minds campaign is part of West Sussex Mind's Open Minds anti-stigma and awareness project. Launching on May 1 it will lead into Mental Health Awareness Week and continue until May 31 with activities. As with all Open Minds projects, it is inspired by the insight and creativity of Open Minds Champions, who all have mental health experiences.
Venue for photographic stories
For a week from May 17, Colonnade House in Worthing will be showing our photographic stories of Champions from diverse communities, all who have a personal story to share about their mental health recovery and journey. Portraits and words will raise awareness about mental health, and encourage people to seek support by describing how actions can really help both the individual and the community as a whole.
Every year an activity is picked to provoke conversations in an engaging way.
This year our Moving Minds campaign hopes to capture movement, not only in the physical sense but in the sense of a movement and a call to action.
Louisa Hernandez, Open Minds Manager
"We want to use the idea of kites and kite flying to express this diversity and also as a display of unity. Kites are a wonderfully diverse and cultural art form – they are flown, displayed and celebrated in many different parts of the world for many different reasons. They are also a fun, engaging and a mindful activity.
Kites can be a tool for transition out of our homes into open spaces . A kite can fail to fly many times due to the conditions but the joy of a moment of flight can be a wonderful reward and be so uplifting. We are using this metaphor and our message is:
Moving Minds, Together We Rise."
For more information, please click through to the campaign video here: https://youtu.be/V-y0nuKqRLc
Or this longer video explains the campaign and includes kite-making instructions:
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To get involved in the campaign, please contact Louisa.Hernandez@westsussexmind.org
