19th May is Mental Health Action Day

Mental health is health and today is a subject that, thankfully, is being talked about more and more. But from awareness must come action, and so Mental Health Action Day was born.

This event was created last year by over 1400 nonprofits, brands, government agencies, and influential leaders from 32 countries, its aim is to turn what we're learning about mental health into a movement and practice of positive, actionable steps to help us individually and as wider communities.

A great day to raise awareness and an even greater reason for this story to reach every GoodGymer.

Dear GoodGymer,

When it comes to spreading awareness and taking action, YOU make all the difference.

If Mental Health Action Day is asking each of us to do something positive, then as the central team, our most important action today is to recognise YOU. The continued passion you share is second-to-none.

Mentalhealthaction.network says "This year’s theme is Connection as people of all ages continue to seek out ways to cope with loneliness stemming from the pandemic and turn to peer counselling to support their emotional wellbeing when struggling with isolation."

These themes are deeply rooted within GoodGym and we see the impact your connection skills and support achieve. Through us all building this GoodGym community, reaching out to older people and using our energy to replenish and grow our green spaces and communities.

Isolation and loneliness is proven to harm our health, we know this. And we also know that the ONS estimated that in 2021, 3.7 million of us are lonely. We need to continue our fight to tackle this. Days like today remind us even more of why we do what we do.

Mental health is health.

Walking, running and cycling to our tasks and missions benefits our own mental wellbeing. Once there, connecting with fellow GoodGymers builds support networks and brings out the best in us; emotionally, mentally and physically.

Community is to have 'common unity' and each GoodGymer is making this a reality for GoodGym everyday.

YOU and the red t-shirt you wear bring hope. With each session you sign up to, each walk, run or spin, each smile, each bit of litter picked, each gardening tool picked up. You make the difference here.

Today is meant for action. And we wanted to start off by celebrating each and every member of GoodGym and their continued dedication and determination. We know that your indviduality and energy that you bring, regardless of task number or km's covered, makes a difference. We congratulate you for each session you can make, each hour you can spend and each smile you offer others.

So take a moment to breathe and connect to these words as we say that your time with GoodGym makes a difference to people and the world.

You should feel extremely proud.

The central team

To read more about Mental Health Action Day and to access some amazing mental health tools that can be used for yourself or a friend, click here

Haven't done a session in a while and want to get back to it? Click here