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The Big Swim is an event inspired by our very own Healthy Minds champion, Nikki Stocks. Nikki knows from her own experiences that swimming is great for people’s mental health and wellbeing. As our ‘Big Swim’ celebrity, Nikki chose her own challenge – to swim a full mile across all three pools in two hours. Wow!
On Tuesday 19 September, four members of the Healthy Minds Forum travelled to the LIFE Centre in Bradford to have their voices heard by key West Yorkshire NHS decision-makers. Link participant Paul and Healthy Minds Volunteer Suzanne bravely shared their personal experiences, presenting to members of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (WYICB) at the mental health engagement session that preceded the WYICB AGM and board meeting. Supported by Georgia (Membership & Engagement Coordinator) and Claire (Healthy Minds Forum Volunteer), Paul and Suzanne were able to take a stand and reveal their lived realities to people in power. We want to celebrate and congratulate Paul and Suzanne for this incredible achievement. It takes huge strength to journey to a different place, be confronted with a busy venue filled with strangers, and present to people in positions of power about deeply personal experiences. As Paul put it in his speech: “If anyone had told me that I would be stood in front of such an influential group of people making a speech, I would have said that they’re totally mad!”
Swappers are invited to make a donation for entry, and funds are also raised from sales of extra items taken away (other than the ones they have swapped).
This year's event was their most successful yet, with an incredible £723.78 raised for Healthy Minds! Organisers of the swap also send a huge thank to all the Healthy Minds staff and volunteers who went along on Saturday and put in a lot of effort to help make the event run smoothly. Click below to view the gallery --- |
