Pub operator and brewer Brakspear is supporting Mind, the leading mental health charity, for the next 12 months, with fundraising already underway in a number of their 130 pubs.
Brakspear is aiming to raise £60,000 for Mind over the year as pubs and head office teams get behind the charity with a raft of fundraising activities from pub quizzes to live music nights and sporting endeavours. All pubs have received a collecting tin and a fundraising pack full of inspiring ideas from Mind, including a number of suggestions for the festive season.
Tom Davies, Brakspear chief executive, said, “This is our third estate-wide charity campaign, and we’re confident that our licensees, their teams and customers, will once again rise to the challenge with enthusiasm, creativity and hard work and ensure our support for Mind is a great success.
“With one in four people in the UK experiencing a mental health problem in any one year, it’s an issue that affects all of us, whether we work in pubs or at head office. I’m sure we will all be motivated to help this great charity continue its work.”
Rebecca Hastings, Head of Corporate Partnerships at Mind, said: “We are delighted to be Brakspear’s charity of the year. The company’s support will help us to reach a point where anyone with a mental health problem feels able to ask for, and access, the help they need.
“Money raised will help fund our vital work including our Mind Infoline, information and advice services, and our campaigning to ensure anyone facing a mental health problem gets support and respect.”
Gordon Dickens, licensee at the Hollybush in Redbourn in Hertfordshire, said, “We’re long term supporters of Mind, so we’re delighted that Brakspear has chosen it as their charity for the next year. We raised £300 through a pub quiz recently and we have other fundraisers in the pipeline including our annual charity football match, which raised more than £4,500 earlier this year.
“Mental health is a problem that affects so many people and yet hasn’t been given the support it deserves, so we’re doing all we can to help Mind.”
Brakspear has previously supported Sue Ryder and Marie Curie across its estate, raising a total of £92,000 for the two charities. Pubs are supported throughout the year with ideas and a range of POS such as stickers for menus and collars for tap water carafes.
Caption to attached image: Gordon Dickens (far left) and Graeme Dickens (far right), licensees at the Hollybush with team member Lauren Berryman
-ends-
Notes to editors
Mental health – some key facts
• 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem in any one year.
• That’s every family, every workplace and every friendship circle. It’s approximately 15 million people in the UK.
• On average, in the UK, 16 people take their own lives each day
• Suicide is the leading cause of death for people aged between 20 and 34 years, and men are three times more likely to take their own lives than women.
• The cost of poor mental health to the UK economy is estimated to be between £74 billion and £99 billion per year.
• Depression is now the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide.
About Mind
• Mind, the mental health charity provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding and won’t give up until everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets both support and respect. www.mind.org.uk
• Please note that Mind is not an acronym and should be set in title case.
• Mind has a confidential information and support line, Mind Infoline, available on 0300 123 3393 (lines open 9am – 6pm, Monday – Friday)
• Please contact the Mind Media Team for interviews or further information on 02085221743. For out of hours support please call 07850788514 or email the media team on media@mind.org.uk.
• For access to a range of free images to accompany mental health news stories please visit: http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/getthepicture. These images have been developed by the anti-stigma campaign Time to Change, run by the charities
