At 75 Bill Jackson ought to be putting his mind to a more comfortable night out under the stars than the doorway of Jackson Property’s Hereford Office on King Street!
Committed to help raise awareness of how poor mental health can affect anyone, Bill has chosen to support The Cart Shed’s springtime campaign The Big Sleep in by sleeping rough during Mental Health awareness Week 10th – 16th May 2021
Bill, a Trustee of The Cart Shed, was inspired by the charity’s ethos, which resonated with his own commitment to Herefordshire and the healing power of the natural environment. This year Mental Health Awareness Week is all about how being in the natural environment is good for your mental health.
“At The Cart Shed we’ve always known being in the natural environment is good for us” says CEO Katie Eastaugh, “but being present in the natural world is really good for us: Observing, feeling, smelling, hearing, touching; all our senses come to life when we go outside and really witness what is around us”.
During the last year, many of us have discovered how important it is to notice and value our world, whether that’s a dramatic sunrise from a favourite viewpoint, a rogue dandelion pushing its way through a crack in a pavement, or as we have witnessed over the last couple of weeks, swallows returning, the cuckoo’s call echoing across open farmland or the blue haze of bluebells in our woodlands.
The Mental Health Foundation have chosen NATURE as its theme for 2021. On its website their CEO Mark Rowland says “Nature is our great untapped resource for a mentally healthy future”. The website goes on to describe all the evidence the Foundation has collected over the last year, which shows just how important green space is to us all.
Despite all the challenges of the last year The Cart Shed never closed. It overcame the challenges of the various lockdowns, thanks to funding from The National Lottery’s Covid Recovery Fund and MINDs Corona Virus Mental Health Response Fund as well as local funding from Hereford Rotary Club, Hereford Community Foundation, The NFU as well as many businesses and individuals across the County.
The ‘Virtual Woodland’ the Cart Shed’s team developed ensured we stayed in touch with all our participants. Every day, from 10am to 3pm on-line sessions were run. Activity packs were compiled and delivered to people’s homes by the charity’s volunteers, so participants had all the materials and digital support they needed to get involved – every session included time to go outside and notice.
The Big Sleep In May 2021, raising funds to support the work of The Cart Shed Charity.
To DONATE please use this Virgin money link below
To get involved visit the website www.thecartshed.co.uk
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