News Archive May 2020

Suffolk Mind has launched a new video fundraising campaign during Mental Health Awareness Week (18th -24th May) having missed out on around £50,000 of anticipated donations due to the Coronavirus pandemic so far.

The independent mental health charity, that receives no direct funding from the national Mind charity, has released a video featuring its CEO, Jon Neal, highlighting the impact of the lockdown, the support they are continuing to provide and how people can support the charity.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, vital fundraising events, including the London Marathon, Great East Swim and Orwell Challenge, have been cancelled. Events such as these provide important income to the charity that enables new services to be developed, helping more people across Suffolk, especially at such an important time like this.

Suffolk Mind predict that if fundraising events continue to be cancelled, they will lose more than £150,000 in donations this year.

Jon Neal, CEO of Suffolk Mind, said: “We have adapted our services and provided more resources over the past two months to ensure those who need it are continuing to receive vital support.

But nobody is running marathons, climbing mountains or hosting bake sales at the moment. So we are asking for the support of the Suffolk community to enable us to continue providing as much support as possible, both now and for many more years into the future when we’ll be needed even more.”

Suffolk Mind has recently launched a new service to provide counselling to our fantastic frontline NHS staff and care workers, over 70’s support and counselling for men.

Lizzy Tuthill, Community Fundraising Coordinator at Suffolk Mind said: “Donations and support are especially important right now to help us maintain and keep developing these services in response to the changing needs of our community. Taking on a home fundraising challenge or making an online donation will help us support Suffolk people, through this challenging period and beyond.

Donate to support Suffolk Mind today

Author: Kristina Brinkley
Posted on: 22nd May 2020

During Mental Health Awareness Week (18th May – 24th May) independent mental health charity, Suffolk Mind has released the results of a survey looking at the impact the coronavirus pandemic on mental health.

The research suggests 53% of us are not feeling rested after sleep. Groups who are most affected are:

• 87% of under 25’s
• 85% of those in full time work
• 78% of people unable to work

Sleep is key to emotional wellbeing and we all need the right amount and quality in a 24 hour period – about eight hours for the average adult, and less as we get older.

Naomi Simons, Research and Evaluation Manager said: “Sleep is often the first thing to go when someone is struggling with their mental health. Getting the right balance between dream sleep and other types of sleep, including deep recuperative sleep, can be affected by how well you are meeting other key emotional needs.

“Our research shows nearly two-fifths of people are not meeting their need for meaning and purpose at the moment. That could be due to losing work or being furloughed, which could lead to worry and in turn, poor quality sleep. Many people are also struggling to meet needs for community, status and receiving attention.”

Suffolk Mind has put the following five top tips together to help you get a better night’s sleep:

• Work on addressing unmet emotional needs – so that there is less to worry about! Use the Emotional Needs Audit here.
• Have regular times for going to bed and getting up – and stick to them
• Cut down on caffeine in the second half of the day
• Avoid watching TV or internet surfing in the two hours before we go to bed
• Use blackout blinds and/or eye masks to block out the light

The research has been conducted by Suffolk Mind to help inform the county’s response to Coronavirus. Other findings include:

• 53% of people are not meeting their emotional need for community
• 43% are not meeting their need for status
• 38% don’t feel they receive enough attention

Jon Neal, CEO of Suffolk Mind said: “It’s really important we capture this data, so we can work on resources and services to help people with their own mental health – and not just now, but in the future when things change again.

“It is a difficult time for many at the moment, so we have been creating online blogs, videos and activities for children and adults to encourage them to meet their own emotional needs.”

“We have also launched new services including counselling for our vital NHS and care workers, support for over 70s and men.”

To access our online resources, click here. You can also still take part in the Emotional Needs and Resources survey here.

Author: Kristina Brinkley
Posted on: 18th May 2020