“Tackling loneliness is an ongoing objective”: Ronan discusses Mental Health Awareness Month 2022

May 2022 was Mental Health Awareness Month and the theme this year was loneliness. After the pandemic many people in York and the rest of the world have had to endure loneliness, especially the impact it had when isolating from loved ones.

In York, there are many charities and advice support groups available. The University of York and York St John University have wellness teams for young people to start getting the help they need.

Photo Credit: York Cares https://twitter.com/YorkCares

York Cares is a 'partnership of the city's leading employers committed to making York a better place through employee volunteering.' When asked how one specific month dedicated to Mental Health Awareness differs from the rest of the year, Ronan Crawford-Ellin, told YorNews:

”I would argue that one month provides a great opportunity to focus on an extremely important topic. Strengthening the opportunity for organisations across York to raise the topic and help drive not only discussion, but also action. However, I would also stress that from this focus, it is important to continue to raise awareness throughout the year.

Mental Health is unique to us as individuals and can impact us all at different stages in our lives and therefore it is vitally important that we are aware of how to support one another and ensure that we are aware of what to look out for if someone is struggling."

"During Mental Health Awareness week, myself and colleagues shared how we manage our mental health on our social media feed via twitter.” You can find out more here: York Cares (@YorkCares) / Twitter

How does the organisation help people who are suffering?

“Currently we do not run any specific support for those who are suffering with their Mental Health, however, we are always looking to raise the importance of wellbeing and work with our Partners in York to help promote services which may help those in need."

How has the theme of loneliness been dealt with and overcome?

“Again whilst we don’t have anything specifically directed at addressing Mental Health, our work does provide a way to improve wellbeing and reducing loneliness. I think the above question has been key to the work that I do at York Cares. While I believe that the theme of tackling loneliness is an ongoing objective for us. It is important to highlight the great work that our employee-volunteers have managed to achieve to help overcome loneliness whilst in an on-going pandemic.

The pandemic has completely changed how people interact with the world and each other and anxiety has risen amongst people which has affected their daily lives. I know of individuals who are frightened to go out due to COVID-19 and therefore the impact and theme of loneliness has increased.

Whilst the majority of our activity through Social Connections was suspended due to the Pandemic we have restarted our support to local residents through the help of our employee-volunteers.

This has been highlighted through our Tea and Technology sessions which started again in May of this year and we have been able to help people connect with friends and family using their technology. We have also been able to host a number of themed parties at Independent Living Communities in York over May and June in relation to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. These were really well received and got residents involved, many of which have not been socialising much due to the concerns surrounding the pandemic.

Over the next year, we will continue to encourage similar activities and will be working with Partners across York to help create new opportunities to reduce the theme of loneliness through reminiscence activities and trips out."

The Mental Health Foundation is part of the national mental health response during the coronavirus outbreak. They have released a statement:

"As we work together to stay safe and save lives, we may find ourselves spending less time with family, friends or familiar faces – especially if we’re shielding or self-isolating."