Double delight for Lancashire Mind

Mental health charity Lancashire Mind is asking businesses across the county to take advantage of the opportunity to double donations during mental health awareness week, thanks to a partnership with The Big Give Kind2Mind campaign.

The Big Give runs campaigns for charities and special causes at key moments across the year, helping them double their donations with match funding.

Lancashire Mind CEO, David Dunwell, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us, and we must make sure we take full advantage of it.

“Right now, children’s mental health is in crisis, and we will be using this money to help ensure we can continue to run our vital Children and Young People (CYP) services.”

Official data shows the number of children in England needing treatment for serious mental health issues has risen by 39 per cent in a year.*

The pandemic, social inequality, austerity and online harm have all contributed to a crisis which has seen NHS referrals for under-18s increase to more than 1.1m in 2021-22.

“More and more children are experiencing poor mental health and are waiting months to access NHS services. The earlier a child receives support, the more likely they are to recover and remain well. The work we do is about prevention and helping children before they get to that crisis point. 

“This is an opportunity for Lancashire businesses to help create a Lancashire where children get the support they need, when they need it.”

The Kind2Mind campaign will run during Mental Health Awareness Week, from Monday 15 May to Sunday 21 May. Money donated during that week will be matched pound for pound up to £7,500, with the charity hoping to reach this target and double it to £15,000 in total.

Lancashire Mind’s virtual wellbeing coaching has been hugely successful, helping hundreds of children and young people across Lancashire – but it is only funded up to the summer.

David continued: “It is crucial that we are able to continue to deliver this service and we are making every effort to attract further funding from a range of sources.

“But the chance offered to us by the Big Give Kind2Mind campaign to supplement this will make a huge difference and will help provide wellbeing coaching to even more young people across Lancashire.”

It costs £400 to provide wellbeing coaching to a young person. This includes one-to-one sessions, bespoke resources and strategies which ultimately provides them with a personalised tool kit to manage and maintain their wellbeing in the future.

Donations should be made via the Big Give Kind2Mind page and not direct to Lancashire Mind in order to ensure the match funding. You can go to https://bit.ly/lmkind2mind to make your donation.

* https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/03/child-referrals-for-mental-health-care-in-england-up-39-in-a-year