Mental health charity aims to raise awareness through ‘Move More For March’ challenge

Birmingham Mind, Future Faces’ charity of the year, is aiming to raise awareness for mental health and vital funds for the charity through their Move More For March challenge.

The challenge involves completing 30 minutes of activity for 31 days in March. The activity can be anything you like- you can walk, run, cycle, dance, swim, skip, stretch, cook, clean, decorate, get off the bus a stop earlier, take the stairs instead of the lift or even potter in the garden– so long as you are moving and having fun, it counts.

Birmingham Mind will send you a free activity tracker when you set up your fundraising page, and you will also receive a free t-shirt when you raise £20.

The money raised will go towards funds for Birmingham Mind, who are one of the largest independent providers of mental health services in Birmingham and have been delivering support to people in the city for over 60 years.

Kerrie Henry-Edge (pictured), fundraising officer at Birmingham Mind, said: “Physical activity has so many positive benefits for our overall wellbeing.

“It improves mood, boosts confidence, reduces stress and helps aid better sleep.

“Which is why we have created the Move More for March challenge. We want to motivate everyone to get moving for 30 minutes every day, so they feel good both mentally and physically.

“It’s a challenge that everyone of all ages and abilities can get involved with and each person can choose how they do it. Whether it be as an individual, with work colleagues, friends, family, or a mixture of all.

“Not only will you feel good by taking part in this challenge, you are also helping to raise awareness for mental health and vital funds for Birmingham Mind.”

For more information and to sign up for FREE, scan the left QR code. If you would like to enquire about support with Birmingham Mind, you can email fundraising@birminghammind.org.

All fundraising and donations that Birmingham Mind receives stay in Birmingham to help support the services they offer to the people who need support with their mental health.

To find out more about what Birmingham Mind do, please visit their website at www.birminghammind.org

Birmingham Mind will also be holding a Networking and Clay Making event on Thursday 21 March from 5pm to 7:30pm. The event will be taking place at The Distillery on Sheepcote Street.

Birmingham Mind say that art is known to be a great stress reliever and has a positive impact on mental health.

The event will be a brilliant opportunity to practice mindfulness by switching off for a few hours and trying something different.

Tickets cost £32.50 (plus booking fee) which includes, a welcome drink, plenty of time to network, a slice of pizza*, a two-hour clay making session with Rachel Akers from Akers of Art and your clay masterpiece to take home with you.

Plus, you'll be supporting the charity too as £10 from every ticket will be donated to Birmingham Mind.

Scan the right QR code to book your tickets.

*please email fundraising@birminghammind.org to make them aware of any dietary requirements as soon as you have booked.