Our Mental Health & Wellbeing Pledge
At Brightham House, we believe that mental health and wellbeing should be talked about openly, without judgement, embarrassment or stigma.
We have made a commitment to indefinitely lend a supporting hand as advocates for mental health and wellbeing, helping to raise awareness, encourage conversations and signpost people towards the help, support and information that is available.
Our pledge is not about having all the answers. It is about listening, sharing, connecting and doing what we can to make a positive difference.
As part of our ongoing commitment, we will:
- Connect with mental health charities and organisations, sharing their knowledge, advice and support networks.
- Use our social media channels to share useful information, campaigns and positive messages, helping to raise awareness and break down the stigma surrounding mental health.
- Encourage and support fundraising for mental health and wellbeing charities.
- Help provide a welcoming space where local people can meet, talk and support one another.
- Create a Mental Health & Wellbeing Corner within our gym and wellbeing centre, with positive messages, information and self-help resources.
- Continue looking for new ways in which Brightham House can support mental health and wellbeing within our local community.
The Well-U-Box – A Space to Feel Okay
Our commitment to mental health has also grown beyond Brightham House and into our local village of Malborough in Devon.
Alistair’s idea for the Well-U-Box – A Space to Feel Okay: a community wellbeing hub created from our village’s old red telephone box.
Taking on the restoration, Alistair repaired, restored and painted the phone box, bringing it back to life and restoring it to its former glory. What was once an unused telephone box has now become a little space dedicated to mental health, wellbeing, positivity, kindness and community.
Through fundraising, £685 was raised towards the project, which helped provide the new red A0 noticeboard outside the Well-U-Box. The noticeboard provides information about mental health and wellbeing, local and national sources of support, and information about the Well-U-Box itself.
Inside the box is a growing collection of self-help and wellbeing books, children’s and young people’s books, resources and positive messages – creating a place where people can pause, breathe, connect, take something that may help them, or leave something for someone else.
The Tree of Positivity
At the heart of the Well-U-Box is our Tree of Positivity.
The tree provides a place for people to leave and discover little messages of hope, kindness, gratitude, encouragement and positivity. Sometimes a few simple words can make a difference to someone’s day.
The Well-U-Box is deliberately simple. It is not intended to replace professional help, but to provide a welcoming community space where people can find information, discover resources, share something positive and perhaps feel a little less alone.
An Idea We Hope Will Grow
The name Well-U-Box was created by me, Alistair, as a simple play on wellbeing and you. The idea is that the box belongs to everyone – a place for you, me, us and our community.
And this is only the beginning.
I hope the Well-U-Box can inspire other villages, towns and communities to look at their own unused telephone boxes and community spaces and consider whether they could be transformed into something positive.
Imagine little wellbeing boxes appearing in communities across the country – each one slightly different, but all with the same purpose: to raise awareness, encourage conversation, offer support and remind people that they are not alone.
Because mental health matters.
And sometimes, creating a small space where people can stop, breathe, connect and feel okay can make a surprisingly big difference.
