We are pleased to announce our sponsored charity for 2020 is Mind, the mental health awareness charity.
This fantastic charity offers the community advice and support on mental health problems, they are based across England and Wales and have existed since 1946, when they merged with three major charities:
- The Central Association for Mental Welfare
- The National Council for Mental Hygiene
- The Child Guidance Council
Since its establishment, the charity has received many awards and is now the host of the Mind Media Awards.
The charity also works to raise awareness of the issues and struggles associated with mental health. Mind was originally known as the National Association for Mental Health until they ran a successful campaign called MIND IN 1971, the charity then decided to change their name to MIND.
In September 2011, Steven Fry became Mind’s president. Before joining the charity, Steven expressed an interest in raising awareness of mental health, especially as he suffers from mental health problems himself. Since becoming the president of Mind, Steven gets involved with campaigns and events the charity holds across England and Wales.
We chose to sponsor Mind due to their continued efforts in offering the best support possible to people with mental health problems. This is something we value a great deal, as we know how hard our team works to ensure our clients receive the best care possible.
To raise money for this fantastic charity, we have decided to participate in a range of activities for everyone to get involved with; Many of our team have decided to take part in pledges to support the Mind charity.
In January, we completed a range of activities. Our team took part in Dry January, exercising every day for a month and ‘pledge to go veg’ or Veganuary.
Our January activities
Dry January
Our Dry January pledge lasted for one month and challenged our team to not consume any alcohol throughout January, while this challenge may be difficult for some, it has many health benefits, such as:
- Lowers blood pressure
- Reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes
- Reduces the levels of cancer-related proteins that can be found in the blood
- Lowers cholesterol
Taking part in Dry January also helped some of our team to save money, lose weight, and improve their sleep;.
Dry January is a great way to kick start the year, it may even help you cut down from February onwards. It will help you to learn more about your drinking habits and how to break them.
Red January
Our team also has the option to take part in the 'exercise every day' challenge for a month. No matter how much or little exercise you do, everything counts. With simple planning and dedication, you can easily add short amounts of exercise to your schedule without struggling for time. When you are physically active, your mood elevates and stress can be reduced, this can also improve your mental health. To help our team with this challenge, we are hosted regular office runs in the evening, free exercise classes, and gave them workout ideas.
Pledge to go veg or Veganuary
Our final January activity was ‘Pledge to go veg’ or Veganuary. To inspire our team, we shared vegan and vegetarian recipes on our social media channels.
As well as our January activities we will be running several outdoor events for people to take part in across the north and south of England. The events will be taking place throughout the year to allow for more people to take part.
Our 2020 events
Event 1
Our first outdoor event is the Dulux London Revolution challenge where people can cycle the 156-mile loop around the circumference of London.
Event 2
Our second outdoor event will be the Peak District challenge, this event will run from the 4th to the 5th of July. The participants will have the choice of running, walking or jogging, around 3 routes of a 25km, 50km or 100km distance.
Event 3
Our third event is the South Coast challenge on the 29th and 30th of August. The participants have the option to run, walk or jog the course. They also have the choice of a 25km, 50km or 100km distance. There will be a dedicated team to offer everyone support and hospitality over the course of the challenge.
Event 4
Our final summer event is the Swim Serpentine challenge; This will be taking place in Serpentine at Hyde Park London. Our team has the choice to swim 25km, 50km, or 100km.
We will also be having on going charity fundraising activities such as bake sales, dress down Fridays and quizzes all in aid to raise money for the sponsored charity.
To keep up to date with our fundraising head over to our Just Giving page. If you would like to see how were getting on with our events and activities head over to our social media channels below.
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