Awareness days educate us on specific issues, illnesses, events, and so on. They allow us to explore with a particular topic, encourage research, and invite us to engage. They promote solidarity, too, bolstering a cause and giving people the opportunity to demonstrate – or reaffirm – their support. Our Happy slogan represents our belief in being #happytotalk about our mental health, and to open the conversation in a fun, approachable way. We came up with the idea for our 'Happy' sweatshirts for a couple of reasons - we wanted people to be ‘Happy To Talk’ about their mental health, so this became our campaign slogan, and we wanted to do this in a cool, fun way. We didn’t want to create ‘just another charity tee’, we wanted something stylish that people really wanted to wear that also happened to have a great message too. Opening up, sharing and talking about how I felt helped, but as I sought help it also became apparent that so many more people out there struggle too. The Mind BLMK will accept donations of cash or publicly traded securities. Gifts of in-kind services will be accepted at the discretion of the Mind BLMK.

During periods of depression I often felt guilty, ashamed or unable to explain myself, and when those with no experience of mental health problems had no understanding or information it could easily make things worse. At the same time I was starting to see how much difference it made when my loved ones really knew what I was going through. Mind BLMK adheres to the Data Protection Act 2018’s principles of good information handling and the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2018.In short, awareness days push us to learn, reflect, and contribute towards a particular issue. Awareness of awareness days allow your organisation to plan content and marketing, get involved in the process, and make the most of increased traction. With that in mind, we put together an awareness days calendar for 2024, covering the most important days, months, and weeks of 2024. I realised that I had to stop apologising for how I am. I think fundamentally there’s nothing I can do to change who I am as an anxious person; I can only help myself by creating the least stressful environment possible, finding coping mechanisms for when thoughts are spiralling and be as honest as possible with those around me. Acceptance of any contribution, gift or grant is at the discretion of the Mind BLMK. The Mind BLMK will not accept any gift unless it can be used or expended consistently with the purpose and mission of the Mind BLMK. We have both suffered from depression and anxiety. Everybody’s experience is different, so we thought it was best at this point to share our individual experience. Alison: The Mind BLMK will respect the intent of the donor relating to gifts for restricted purposes and those relating to the desire to remain anonymous. With respect to anonymous gifts, the Mind BLMK will restrict information about the donor to only those staff members with a need to know.

It’s only in recent years that I’ve recognised and accepted my experiences of anxiety, and been able to open up about them. I’ve always been ‘a bit of a worrier’, and that won’t ever change, but the hardest times are when it tips out of control into a spiral of stressful thoughts and concerns that I can’t cope with; small things that can seem trivial to friends and family but overwhelming to me at the time. All that is required is that you must be a taxpayer and that would have paid or will pay sufficient Income and/or Capital Gains Tax to cover all the Gift Aid claimed on all your donations in that tax year. Please note that it is your responsibility to pay any difference. The Mind BLMK will refrain from providing advice about the tax or other treatment of gifts and will encourage donors to seek guidance from their own professional advisers to assist them in the process of making their donation. We first met in London’s Soho in 1993. One of us (that’s me, Alison) was fresh off the train from Glasgow and interviewing for her dream record company job, and the other (that’s me, Frances), a fun, bubbly Essex girl wearing denim hotpants and a huge smile. We wanted people to be ‘Happy To Talk’ about their mental health, so this became our campaign slogan."Sure, a jumper isn't going to save anyone from anxiety. As far as I know, it has no curative qualities, besides festive cheer. But I like the idea of knitting the word 'anxious' across a piece of clothing - it says to me that the person wearing it is not ashamed of their condition. Anything that promotes comfort and pride in mental illness is OK with me. We have turned our personal experiences of anxiety and depression into a fashion brand that is loved by celebs, highlights the importance of talking about mental health, and raises funds for Mind with our distinctive 'Happy' logo tops. Certain other gifts, real property, personal property, in-kind gifts, non-liquid securities, and contributions whose sources are not transparent or whose use is restricted in some manner, must be reviewed prior to acceptance due to the special obligations raised or liabilities they may pose for Mind BLMK. Besides which, 90 per cent of knitters say that it reduces their anxiety, so the process of making the thing is important, too. Now, time for me to learn how to knit.

After a couple of rollercoaster decades of showbiz fun and frolics, we replaced Britpop and boybands with babies and businesses, but 25 years on, we’re still best friends.Many friends were supportive, and also quite surprised that I’d been hiding this for so long. But, frustratingly, others just didn’t understand that depression is not a choice, or just a ‘bad day’ that can be fixed. I have suffered with depression since my late teens, but kept it a secret from those closest to me. During low spells, I would hide myself away – so since friends only saw me on the ‘good days’ so many of them had no idea what I really went through. On the outside I was fun and outgoing, but I also suffered from crushing dark spells where I could barely leave the house. As we talked openly with each other about our struggles, we began to brainstorm ideas about how we could encourage others to talk about their mental health in a positive, accessible way, and reduce the shame and stigma about dealing with a mental health problem. We were drawn to bright colours, and our classic Rainbow design, signifies that even on the darkest days we always looked for that glimmer of hope.