Great Mental Health Day kicks off in Haringey

The day is hoped to be a way of encouraging conversations around mental health and wellbeing, reports Olivia Opara

A day dedicated to mental health and wellbeing awareness returns to Haringey for its second year this Friday, January 27th.

Great Mental Health Day is a London-wide initiative to encourage conversations about mental health and wellbeing, promoting services and support available to those in need. There will be a range of activities focused on mental wellbeing throughout the city. The theme for its second year is “celebrating the power of community kindness”.

The initiative was an extension of Haringey’s Great Mental Health Programme that was launched on World Mental Health Day 2021. The programme comprises a range of activities and initiatives led by local organisations and resources to support Haringey residents with their mental health. Some initiatives are open to all with others tailored for specific groups.

The programme was shortlisted for three prestigious awards in 2022. It was awarded the ‘Faculty of Public Health Sarah Brown Prize’.

This year, ABC Parents is hosting a Kindness Fair for Haringey and Enfield residents at Tottenham Community Sports Centre from 9.30am to 2pm. There will be free fitness and reiki sessions, gift bags with self-care kits and a children’s craft corner. Numerous community services and organisations will be running stalls on the day – sharing information on how to improve one’s health and wellbeing and selling craft goods.

There will also be several talks on a variety of mental health topics and a mum’s choir.

Madeline Lenchner, ABC Parents project coordinator, said: “Mental Health impacts every person, but especially during parenthood, our mental health can suffer.

“As parents, we spend all day looking after and caring for those we love, and often, we neglect ourselves.

We hope this fair highlights the importance of looking after the mental health needs of both ourselves and our community. After all, a healthier community is a kinder community.”

ABC Parents is a children’s community outreach programme for Enfield and Haringey parents and carers – offering free courses, workshops and peer-support.

Sewn Together will also be hosting a community fair at Chestnuts Community Centre from 1.30pm to 3.30pm. They will host conversations around physical and mental health – with cancer community champion, Latanya Lawrence, promoting early screening in light of Cervical Cancer Prevention Week. Creative workshops such as crochet bag-making with lavender, known to be good for mental wellbeing and ‘Kindness Card’ making for people to write messages to themselves and others, will run throughout the day.

There will also be pampering and enrichment activities.

Sewn Together is a creative organisation that provides one-to-one support and craft workshops for Haringey residents.

Sonja, outreach and engagement officer at Sewn Together, said: “The support for mental wellbeing is equally as important as that for physical wellbeing.

“It gives us a chance to have a holistic view as it is working with the whole body.

“Now that we are coming out of Covid, I think the stigma around mental health is less now where people are prepared to talk about their mental state.

“I think it is brilliant that we have days like this to highlight the services that people can access to be well.”

Find out more about other events and activities in the borough on the day here.

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