London’s Great Mental Health Day returns for third year

On Friday, 26 January 2024, Great Mental Health Day will take place across London.

Now in its third year, Great Mental Health Day is a London-wide initiative and for 2024 will explore the importance of meaningful connections and highlight the power of relationships, community, and social networks.

The start of a new year is a time for setting goals and seeing it as a chance for positive change or action. Yet for many Londoners, things continue to feel challenging or uncertain, particularly as cost-of-living pressures are impacting on many people’s mental health and wellbeing.

The day will see 100s of free events taking place across the city, bringing people together to share stories, experiences and explore ways to support individual and community wellbeing.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I am delighted to support Thrive LDN’s Great Mental Health Day, and encourage Londoners to get involved in the hundreds of free events that are taking place all over the capital.

It is more important than ever for us to talk to each other about our mental health and wellbeing, as this helps to address stigma and break down the barriers that sadly still exist. By raising awareness and sharing our experiences, we are helping to build a kinder, safer and healthier London for all.”

In a video message to Londoners, Professor Kevin Fenton, London’s regional public health director, encouraged Londoners to join in. Saying Great Mental Health Day was a chance “to come together as a city to support each other on our mental health and wellbeing… Connecting with people in our neighbourhood and across the city in different ways, to share experiences.”

Londoners across the city can get involved by exploring the Great Mental Health Day interactive map on Thrive LDN’s website, join an online event, or use the hashtag #GreatMentalHealth to share their own stories, experiences and plans for the day across social media.

Across the range of activity taking place the mark the day, many of London’s councils or local Mind organisations are facilitating events, as well as activity being delivered by community organisations. Just some of the events and initiatives taking place include:

• In west London, Mind in Brent Wandsworth & Westminster is celebrating the day by unveiling a brand-new community hub, Great Western Studios.
• In north London, Haringey Council is hosting a Parent Wellness Expo at Tottenham Community Sports Centre. Whilst in Islington, The Charterhouse is using a regular Community Space Drop-In Event to mark the day.
• In east London, The Telemo Club in West Ham Park, which aids men’s mental health through sport, is holding a New Year’s Fun Day in celebration of Great Mental Health Day 2024.
• In southeast London, the Bromley Third Sector Enterprise (BTSE) partnership, which includes Age UK Bromley & Greenwich, Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich Mind, are facilitating a range of activities from a Young Carers Book Club to an Over 65s Friendship Hub in Chislehurst. Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich Mind (BLG Mind) are also holding a Suicide Bereavement Service Walk & Talk in Beckenham.
• In southwest London, residents in Wandsworth are invited to join a yoga session followed by a health food demo about health eating habits and their relation to mental health.

Alongside local events taking place, there are a range of online webinars, activities and wellbeing-related sessions planned throughout the day, starting with a virtual coffee check-in hosted by Johnny Lawrence, aka The Self Development Coach.

Elsewhere for Great Mental Health Day, a short film called Connections will premiere, produced by Messages of Hope and The Speakers Collective to mark the day.

Filmed across three days in central London, people young and old were invited to write a message of hope for someone who may be finding things difficult. Connections also features several dancers who display their message through dance.

Speaking about the film, Beth Evans, founder of Messages of Hope, said: “Connections explores how we can find hope through connection. We set out to capture Londoners writing messages of hope for people struggling with their mental health and we discovered just how connected we truly are. Connections is proof that somebody out there really does care about you. None of us are alone.”

A sold-out free screening of the film is taking place in the evening of Great Mental Health Day at City Lit, an adult education college in Holborn, central London. To mark the launch, City Lit has gifted their exhibition space for one week to showcase still images from the film. The exhibition will run from Friday, 26 January to Monday, 5 February.

Additionally, the day will also see Londoners join together for a free group walk, in partnership with Run Talk Run and Sport in Mind. The ‘Walk Talk Walk’ event will offer Londoners from across the city the chance to join together and enjoy views of iconic London landmarks along the route.

Starting at Tower Hill Underground Station at 12:30pm on Friday, 26 January, the route will take walkers across Tower Bridge and finish at the National Theatre on Southbank covering a total distance of around 2.5 miles.

The group walk is also intended to provide the opportunity to have a conversation with someone familiar or new about what’s been going on recently and share experiences relating to wellbeing and how they’ve been feeling.

Commenting on Great Mental Health Day, Dan Barrett, Thrive LDN director, added: “As an awareness day unique to London, the day provides an opportunity to spotlight the great local support services that are available. It’s a chance to celebrate and keep learning from London’s community and grassroots projects who in recent years have played a vital role, right across the city, in supporting the wellbeing of the communities which they support.

“Having strong, supportive relationships – whether family and support structures or from wider community and faith groups – is one of the most important things we can do to support our wellbeing. I encourage all Londoners to get involved. Whether it’s participating in community events locally, joining discussions or sessions online, or simply reaching out to friends and neighbours, every action counts.”

For more details about everything connected to Great Mental Health Day, visit Thrive LDN’s website.

The aspirations and aims of Great Mental Health Day aren’t limited to a single day. The Mayor of London is encouraging Londoners to champion great mental health every day through his #ChampionMentalHealth campaign.

By signing up, Londoners can pledge to #ChampionMentalHealth and have access to training opportunities, tools and other offers straight to their inbox to help them navigate conversations about mental health with confidence and compassion all year round. Sign up to #ChampionMentalHealth.