Guest blog #2

As it’s the first Wednesday of the month, it’s guest blog time. It ties in really nicely with Clean Well-Being’s 8th birthday celebrations, as I’m looking back on all the work I have done over the past years, including working with charities. I have focused on those which have causes that mean a lot to me – from mental health, domestic violence and bereavement to sport, cancer care and the environment.
 
This is where Sport in Mind comes in. I’m currently working with this excellent charity on a couple of supercool projects and wanted to share some of the work they do.
 
With World Mental Health Day 2020 approaching this coming Saturday, I’m handing over the blog reins to a key member of the team from the award-winning Berkshire charity Sport in Mind that delivers sport and physical activity programmes to help aid the recovery of people experiencing mental health problems. 
 
Someone once asked me, “What do you want to do with your life?” And my answer was simple – I want to help people. Today, so many years later, and my mission in life remains the same, but the difference is now I’m in a position to not just help one or two people, as through my work with Sport in Mind I can help and empower thousands of the people experiencing mental health problems each year. 
 
World Mental Health Day on 10th of October is obviously an important day in the calendar for my charity Sport in Mind, but it should be a really important day for all of us because every year at least 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem. Despite the fact millions of us will experience mental health problems this year there’s still a great deal of stigma and misunderstanding about mental illness so it’s really important to talk about how you’re feeling, particularly with life as it is at the moment.
 
Since lockdown, I’ve spoken to so many people who have been struggling mentally and feeling isolated. If there’s anyone reading this who is feeling the same, I just want to let you know you’re not alone, there’s millions of people feeling exactly the same as you so try to connect with friends or family and let them know how you’re feeling. It’s also really important to be active as it’s one of the most effective ways to lift your mood; so many of the people I’ve spoken to during lockdown have been able to improve their mental health by taking part in physical activity regularly. The term physical activity can of course be scary to many of us, but when we talk about physical activity that doesn’t have to mean hardcore fitness workouts or sports sessions, it can be things like going for a walk, dancing in the living room or digging in the garden – anything that will increase your breathing rate. Doing something simple like going for a brisk walk and dancing around the living room really helped my mental health through lockdown.
 
Since Sport in Mind was established in 2010, our charity’s mission has been about providing accessible and supportive sport and physical activity opportunities to improve the lives of people experiencing mental health problems. Our sessions are never about how good you are at sport or how fit you are, they are simply about HAVING FUN and giving people are bit of a break from everything else that's going on in their lives.
 
If you’re interested in Sport in Mind’s work, please contact info@sportinmind.org.
 
And here is a video about Sport in Mind’s new dance session: https://www.dropbox.com/s/caop9doynsab1xp/MUM%20BABY%20TEASER.mp4?dl=0 .