Cake. Coffee. Chat. This morning as part of our Time to Change Pledge, People First hosted a coffee morning to recognise World Mental Health Day.
Coming together, our learners, staff, community members, and guests shared good food and good chat. Focused on destigmatising mental health in the workplace, we combined sugary treats with an informal setting. With a raffle, interactive displays and a yoga session, this year’s coffee morning was a great success and managed to raise funds and awareness for the charity CALM.
One of a number of events planned throughout the year, our coffee morning was organised by People First’s Time to Change Champions. Each Time to Change event aims to encourage our staff and learners to approach the topic of mental health in an honest and inclusive way.
Whilst enjoying refreshments made by our learners and staff, we used visual methods to facilitate a chat about mental health. Using Post It notes to respond to questions in an anonymous way, we considered questions including, ‘is there a stigma surrounding mental health in the workplace’ and ‘do you know where to go if you need help with mental health’.
The coffee morning culminated with a raffle where local business donated fantastic prizes to help us raise money for Calm. Prize donors included:
- Yanwathgate Inn Country Pub
- The Pizza Base
- The Bathroom Shop
- Paolo’s Fish and Chip
- Beautylicious by Alli
- Just Josh Photography
- Stress Balls UK
Thanks to the support of these businesses we were able to raise nearly £100 for CALM. CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably), through awareness and intervention, work to lower the suicide rate of men in the UK under 45.
Raising money, awareness and fluffy cakes – our coffee morning was an enjoyable way to come together to share food and conversation. Thank you to all our learners and staff who worked hard to organise the event and a worthy excuse to increase our daily calorie intake.