Below is your heads-up calendar for the health and wellbeing initiatives for the month ahead. There are a number of initiatives related to community activities which can be an excellent activity to get involved in to boost wellbeing and mental health.
- Tourette’s Awareness Month, 15 May – 15 June: This initiative is organised by Tourettes Action. Their promotion for this year is ‘Move For Tourettes’ which is a fund-raising effort for the organisation
- Volunteers’ Week, 01-07 June: Volunteers’ Week is a chance to say thank you for the fantastic contribution volunteers make and to find out what you could volunteer to do which could help others. Wellbeing research shows that doing something for others is a great way to boost your mental health and helps you feel good about yourself. And all this while doing something for others at the same time!
- The Big Lunch, 02-05 June and for the next month: this initiative is linked to the previous one. The Big Lunch is promoted by the Eden Project Communities and is all about the importance of community. The aim is ‘to celebrate community connections and get to know one another a little better.’ Again, the research shows that feeling connected to a community is a big boost to wellbeing and strong safeguard against developing poor mental health.
- Bike Week, 06-12 June: organised by Cycling UK, the week is an annual celebration to showcase cycling and how brilliant it is. Their information emphasises that ‘Cycling remains a great way to keep fit and active and is a good way to boost immunity, it’s also fantastic for your well-being.’
- Carers’ Week, 06-12 June: Carers’ Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring responsibilities across society and highlight the challenges unpaid carers face while recognising the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. The theme this year is ‘Make Caring Visible and Valued.’
- Child Safety Week, 06-12 June: promoted by the Child Accident Prevention Trust this is an annual community education campaign helping families build confidence and skills in managing the real risks to children’s safety
- National Growing for Wellbeing Week, 06-12 June: this initiative is promoted by an organisation called Life at No. 27. The focus of the week is how beneficial gardening is as a wellbeing activity: ‘Gardening improves mental health, enables better physical health, provides an opportunity to connect with others, acquire new skills and enjoy the great outdoors.’
- World Heart Rhythm Week, 06-12 June: this is an annual awareness week promoted by the Arrthymia Alliance. The aim is to encourage people to detect potentially dangerous irregular heart rhythms; this can be done simply by taking someone’s pulse for 30 seconds. For more information, follow the link.
- BNF Healthy Eating Week, 13-17 June: organised by the British Nutrition Foundation, this year’s theme is ‘Find your healthier you’ by encouraging everyone ‘to reflect on their lifestyles and look to make improvements to enhance their health and wellbeing.’
- Diabetes Week 2021, 13-19 June: the aim of this week is to raise awareness of diabetes as a health issue
- Loneliness Awareness Week, 13-17 June: hosted by the Marmalade Trust, its promotion this year is centred round #LetsTalkLoneliness
- Cervical Screening Awareness Week, 20-26 June: hosted by Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, the aim of the week is to reduce confusion about Human Papilloma Virus, de-mystify cervical screening results and shout about the importance of cervical screening. To learn more access #CervicalScreeningAwarenessWeek
- Learning Disability Week, 20-26 June: sponsored by Mencap, the theme this year is art and creativity.
- Love Your Lungs Week, 21-27 June: supported by the British Lung Foundation, the aim is to promote the importance of respiratory health and raise awareness of how hard it can be living with a lung condition.
- Deafblind Awareness Week, 27 June-03 July: hosted by the Deafblind Society, the aim is to spread awareness of the challenges faced by those affected by this disabling condition and to raise funds. You are encouraged to share their hashtag #DeafblindAwarenessWeek