This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and we wanted to share the importance of looking after our mental health, especially people working or volunteering in the VCSE sector.  Increased demand for services with little-to-no uplift in resources and funding is taking a toll on the people giving their time and energy to support their communities. This issue became especially apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many articles identifying this event as a turning point; 44% of charities identified workforce burnout as a significant risk to their operations (Charity Digital 2021).

An increasing number of VCSE staff and volunteers are being signed off due to stress or burnout. In the charity sector, the day-to-day goes deeper than an “occupation”; it is often a vocation, driven by passion and the desire for social change.  We need to take care of our mental health and wellbeing to be able to serve our communities in the best way we can; as the saying goes, you can’t pour from an empty cup! 

So how can we improve our wellbeing to make sure our cup is full, and we can continue to help others?  

The theme for Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 is Movement; moving more for our mental health. Going for a walk in your neighbourhood, putting on your favourite music and dancing around the living room, chair exercises when you’re watching television – it all counts!  

During our Community Mental Health Exhibition, we posed the question "How do you look after your mental health?" We have had over 120 messages to date written and hung on our mental health tree with popular themes ranging from connecting with nature, interacting with animals, exercise, reading, spending time talking with friends and family and a surprising number about eating ice cream! 

Just a couple of our favourite answers received about how you look after your mental health. 

Find more resources and information about how to get involved in Mental Health Awareness week here: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/