This week is Mental Health Awareness Week – and Trafford Council and NHS Trafford CCG are supporting the initiative to spread the word about kindness.
The annual awareness week is running nationally from May 18 to 24 and this year’s theme is kindness – an appropriate message given the difficult times we are in due to the coronavirus epidemic.
The Mental Health Foundation selected kindness as the theme as it is closely connected to providing positive mental health - central to people coping with and recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. Kindness strengthens relationships, develops community and deepens solidarity.
Trafford Council and NHS Trafford CCG have set up a number of online initiatives for staff including advice on how to be kind to yourself, ‘check in and chat’ sessions, and EPIC staff awards.
Our staff have also been showing their incredible kindness since the start of the pandemic. They have been taking part in initiatives to raise cash for struggling charities and going the extra mile to help vulnerable people in our communities. They have also been helping out in Trafford’s Community Response Hubs which have helped more than 6,000 vulnerable people across the borough.
The community itself has shown incredible kindness during the crisis. Examples include three members of Trafford Veterans Group – Claire Wright, Chris Squires, and Darren Gregory – who have been volunteering to help local residents. They have delivered more than 1,000 food boxes to people as well as hundreds of goods to veterans in isolation.
St John’s Centre in Old Trafford has been a key community hub during the Coronavirus pandemic, providing help and practical support to local people who are struggling. The centre’s volunteers and staff have shown kindness in the community daily through wellbeing checks and deliveries of food parcels, medication, groceries and other essentials.
Cllr Tom Ross, Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Finance and Investment, said:
The coronavirus epidemic has created massive, life-changing issues for many across our communities. A simple act of kindness can make all the difference to people’s lives – particularly at this time.
I am amazed at how well our communities have pulled together during this crisis and we are seeing incredible acts of kindness every day. Let’s continue to be kind and helpful to one another to get through this. And don’t forget to be kind to yourself – it boosts self-esteem and can improve feelings of confidence and optimism, something which we all need at the moment.”
More information on Mental Health Awareness Week can be found on the Mental Health Foundation website.
Posted on Monday 18th May 2020