Wed, 16 Jan 2013
No5 Chambers is pleased to inform you about a mental health awareness campaign being run by a charity co-founded by one of its members, Laura Davidson, which will take place on 21st January 2013.
Laura set up Mental Health Research UK (MHRUK) in 2008 (registered charity 1125538). It is the first UK charity dedicated to funding research into the causes of mental illness in order to develop more effective treatments with fewer side-effects.
THE CAMPAIGN
‘Blue Monday’ is the third Monday in January. It is a short, dark day, and indeed has become known colloquially as ‘the most depressing day of the year’. Blue Monday comes after the Christmas festivities have ended, it is a long time until Spring, and typically people feel rather low on what is often a cold, grey day. Yet despite our increasingly lengthy winters, most people tend to wear dark clothes, especially to work.
MHRUK hopes to make a big visual impact on Blue Monday each year, starting in 2013, by injecting some unexpected colour and joy. Instead of Blue Monday, MHRUK has renamed it Blooming Monday! The concept is simple; the charity is asking everyone to wear their brightest clothes that day; on this one day a year employees are encouraged to brighten up.
A voluntary donation to MHRUK of £2 can be made on the day by texting BLOO22 to 70070. Larger donations may be made via MHRUK’s website at http://www.mhruk.org/make-a-donation/ Alternatively, the charity is happy to receive a cheque made out to Mental Health Research UK for the total amount raised via a collection. Please send this to Treasurer, Mr. David Pugh at
Robertson Pugh and Co
3 Leicester Road
Oadby
Leicester
LE2 5BD
You can find out more about the campaign on MHRUK’s website, www.mhruk.org, or follow the charity on Twitter at @mhrukcharity. On Blooming Monday the charity is running a competition to win a SAD lightbox donated by Britebox Ltd. Participants can tweet photos of themselves and friends wearing colourful clothing to @mhrukcharity, or post them on MHRUK’s Blooming Monday Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/BLOOMING-MONDAY/458975780830621
The campaign has had some interest in the national newspapers, and you should see further reporting in the next week in the lead up to 21st January 2013. Laura and MHRUK hope you will get involved!
