By Mark Harris | Outreach, Partnerships & Events Manager
It is essential that we get out and about and talk about the service we provide as much as possible. Events like 'Mental Health Awareness Week' are fantastic opportunities to go out to workplaces and give talks about who we are and what we do. We can also give tips on how to spot the signs that a friend or colleague may be struggling, how to make an approach to that person and how to 'actively listen' to them. Over that week in May we visited 12 diferent organisations and gave talks to over 600 people. Events like this also enable us to have a larger presence on social media with hashtags about mental health trending and reaching a wider audience.
July is Samaritans national month of awareness raising and fundraising to keep the service running. The biggest date in our national calendar is 24th July (24/7) when volunteers up and down the country go out in to the community to engage with the local community and shake a bucket.
As we have such a successful partnership with Network Rail, a lot of events take place in local mainline stations. Our volunteers will be in Waterloo station from 7am to 7pm raising awareness and funds.
We are also fortunate that the Pride in London parade takes place within Talk to Us month and weaves very close to our branch in Soho. This will be another fantastic opportunity to get out and about and engage with large numbers of people, with the parade watched by approx 1 million people along the route. Being in Soho, we are in the heart of the LGBT+ community and so we have developed LGBT+ specific awareness raising nmaterials that we will be able to hand out on the day.
July is also the month when we will hold our annual branch conference. This is another important event in our calendar but for different reasons. This is a great opportunity for volunteers old and new to come together, discus what's happening in the branch, attend training talks and fior the branch leadership to say a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to keeping the branch open around the clock for the last 12 months.
Coincidentally, straight after the conference we will be holding our summer party which is a chance for volunteers to socialise and let their hair down. This year we will be enjoying a live performance from talented singer/ songwriter Yoji who will play a live set just for the volunteers. We have recently been working with Yoji on her new single 'Satellite' which is a song about how there is always someone there that you can talk to. And of course, if you feel that there's no one you can turn to, we are here around the clock, ready and waiting to offer emotional support. Yoji worked within Samaritans media guidelines when producing the video for the song, and all proceeds go towards keeping Central London Samaritans open around the clock. Yoji hails from Suffolk originally and it was a great pleasure for our Outreach, Partnerships & Events Manager Mark Harris to join with Yoji when she was interviewed by the local tv news company:
Over the coming months we will be expanding our work in partnerships as this is such a great way of reaching new audiences. We hope to have more exciting news to report in this and other areas in the coming months.
By Alison Braganza | Fundraising Manager
By Alison Braganza | Fundraising Manager
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