12th – 18th May 2025
Community: Being part of a safe, positive community is vital for our mental health and wellbeing.
Mental Health Awareness Week at Mermaid Quay
This year, Mental Health Awareness Week will take place from 12 to 18 May 2025. The theme for 2025 is ‘Community’.
Being part of a safe, positive community is vital for our mental health and wellbeing. We thrive when we have strong connections with other people and supportive communities that remind us, we are not alone. Communities can provide a sense of belonging, safety, support in hard times, and give us a sense purpose.
The Mental Health Foundation want to use Mental Health Awareness Week to celebrate the power and importance of community.
Why community?
The Mental Health Foundation are committed to creating a world where there is good mental health for all. They do this by focusing on preventing poor mental health alongside building and protecting good mental health.
They know that being part of a community is vital for our mental health and wellbeing. We thrive when we have strong connections with others and supportive communities around us.
They also know that people who are more socially connected to family, friends, or their community are happier, physically healthier, and live longer, with fewer mental health problems than people who are less well connected.
Communities can provide us with a sense of belonging, safety, support in hard times, and give us purpose.
So, this Mental Health Awareness Week the Mental Health Foundation want to celebrate the communities that support us to protect and nurture good mental health.
What is a Community?
There are many different types of community, and you can belong to more than one.
A community is a group of people brought together through something which they share in common. It can be found with either the people who live around us in a geographic location or with people we connect with through similar values and interests. You might find your community at school or work, through your faith, at a club where you enjoy a hobby, as part of a group inspiring action for positive change, an online game, or even through a love of Taylor Swift.
Importantly, a community should make you feel good about yourself, feel safe, and feel empathy towards others. A community is there to help you through the hard times such as illness, bereavement, or natural disasters. Throughout covid we saw so many examples of communities coming together to support one another, find joy, and ensure that those most in need were looked after.
Of course, not all communities are safe or healthy. If a community makes you think badly of yourself, encourages hateful or discriminatory actions towards others, or puts you in danger, it will be damaging to your mental health and wellbeing. Throughout the week we’ll also be talking about how to recognise and protect yourself and loved ones from harmful spaces.
Information found on the Mental Health Foundation website.