Team GB and Red Cross Mark Mental Health Week
May 22, 2020
Team GB has joined up with its Official Charity Partner, the British Red Cross, to celebrate kindness during Mental Health Awareness Week, which runs from 18th to 24th May.
The week-long event is hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, while the official theme for the 2020 Mental Health Awareness Week is kindness.
To contribute, Team GB has produced a new spot entitled ‘Kindness is What Makes Us’, featuring a host of athletes from nine summer and winter sports reciting a poem to highlight the importance of kindness. Recorded by athletes themselves at home, the videos were made to support mental health, especially during the pandemic.
The athletes, who between them have a total of 12 Olympic medals, include Gabby Adcock (badminton), Becky Downie (gymnastics), Cheavon Clarke (boxing), Liam Heath (canoeing), Tom Mitchell (rugby sevens), Lutalo Muhammad (taekwondo), Helen Richardson-Walsh MBE (hockey), Vicky Thornely (rowing), Beth Tweddle MBE (gymnastics) and Lizzy Yarnold (skeleton).
A series of images alongside the athletes, who all recite the poem from home, illustrate people within their communities supporting the British Red Cross during the coronavirus outbreak through simple acts of kindness. Through their ‘Kindness Will Keep Us Together’ campaign, people all over the country are stepping forward to help others in their hour of need, and the power of kindness has never been more relevant.
Dr Sarah Davidson, Head of Psychosocial and Mental Health, British Red Cross, said: “As lockdown continues, we know that some people are finding it challenging. Everyone needs a listening ear and someone to talk to at one stage or another. We want the public to know that if they need to talk, we’re here to listen.
“For 150 years, the British Red Cross has helped the nation through its darkest days and coronavirus is no exception. We are focussed on supporting the most vulnerable people through this crisis and if you’re feeling lonely or worried, or staying home and finding it difficult to access food or medication, we can provide support. Because whilst this virus may keep us apart, kindness will keep us together.”
The British Red Cross has set up a free coronavirus support line for people who are staying home and finding it difficult to access food and medication, or feeling lonely or worried, during these uncertain times.