The Wellbeing Hub Nottingham hosted the Time to Talk Day, where anyone can come down for coffee, cakes, and healthy chats about mental health issues.
With mental health issues affecting one in four people, odds are someone you know is struggling with a mental health issue.
Nottingham-based charity Time to Change host the annual event on February 7, where anyone is invited to come down and talk about mental health issues.
Mark Weightman is a champion of Time to Change, dedicating his time to get people talking about mental health issues and removing the stigma surrounding it.
“It helps knowing I’m helping others, it makes me feel like I’m not on my own”
Mark Weightman, Champion of Time to Change
Mark suffers from OCD, it was living with his own mental health issues that caused Mark to champion this local charity.
“It’s a good thing to socialise regardless of your situation, talking about issues can help your own recovery and others’,” Mark said.
He added: “It helps knowing I’m helping others, it makes me feel like I’m not on my own.”
Aspiring author Njoki Pratt also champions Time to Change, explained that suffering from mental illness can be a very lonely experience.
“I want people to feel like they can talk about mental health, it’s not that strange, it happens to a lot of people,” Njoki said.
She added: “Events like this help me get out of bed in the morning, if I didn’t have this I would be in my house all the time.”
It's #TimeToTalk day! With mental health problems affecting one in four of us, people are still afraid to talk about it. So, #Nottingham is taking a stand together to encourage people to both open up and speak to their loved ones about #mentalhealth. 🙌 https://t.co/IXZYbLH6cR
— Time to Change Notts (@ttcnotts) February 7, 2019
Anna Hazell, a social worker at local charity Framework, explained how they helped in spreading awareness about mental health issues.
“We try and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues, it gets a lot easier when you have someone to talk to,” Anna said.
She added: “Events like this are great, they not only help people on their recovery but they also spread awareness,”
“Framework are very supportive, we offer support to anyone. No matter how small the issue, it’s worth talking about.”
If you need any support with mental health, Framework offer six sessions of free counselling. You can even choose to remain anonymous.
Anna told us that anyone who contacts Framework is “met with compassion and empathy” and that there is no judgement.
