Mental Health Awareness Week 10-16 May: Nature

“I’ve found spending time at the allotment has had a positive impact on my mental health – it’s been a good way to meet new people and has given me a sense of purpose. It’s been therapeutic to spend so much time outdoors and rewarding to see things starting to grow, and it gives me a lot of pleasure to know that the flowers and food we are growing will go to people in need of some extra support.”  Sarah, Allotment Volunteer

Welcome to Mental Health Awareness Week. Starting Monday 10 May here at Manchester Mind we are delighted to be joining the Mental Health Foundation to mark the occasion.

Each year for the last 21 years the Mental Health Foundation has chosen a theme for the week and this year’s theme is nature.

This year they want people to notice nature and try to make a habit of connecting to nature every day. Stop to listen to the birdsong, smell the freshly cut grass, take care of a house plant, notice any trees, flowers or animals nearby. Take a moment to appreciate these connections.

We absolutely love this theme, knowing how important nature has been to our wellbeing during the pandemic. Our allotment has been a sanctuary for our staff and many volunteers who have been able to support our plot, growing fruit, flowers and vegetables over recent months.

We have so much to share with you on this theme and have gathered it all together for you to have a look through.

Find out our top tips to help you make the most of nature to actively support mental health.

Follow the progress of our sensory garden at our allotment over on our blog.

We have also been inundated with pictures and stories from our staff about how they have been engaging with nature during lockdown. Please take a look at our news pages which we will be adding to over the coming days and for more pictures make sure you following us on social media.

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Instagram allotment page

We would also love to hear from you about your top tips so please ensure you are following our social media channels and if you can share please tag us and use #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

We are also supporting national Mind with as they step up the fight for mental health. You can read all about this here.