Melksham Business Group raise funds for Wiltshire Mind

The local business community showed their support for local charity, Wiltshire Mind, at Business Growth Group’s networking meeting in Melksham on Friday 25th January.

Business Growth Group (BGG) consists of 36 local business owners from around Wiltshire and Bath who meet every Friday at The Milkchurn in Melksham for breakfast and to share new business opportunities. The group invited Carolyn Beale from Wiltshire Mind to attend a meeting to tell the group about how the charity supports people struggling with their mental health and how they use funds raised to support them in doing so.  

During her presentation, Carolyn informed the group that Wiltshire Mind run six support groups across the county where anyone can turn up for support, no invitation or referral needed. They also provide up to 250 counselling sessions per month and hold two groups specifically for carers. All this is arranged by just 14 members of part-time staff. Wiltshire Mind also have a small charity shop in Melksham.

Whilst Wiltshire Mind are affiliated with National Mind, Carolyn told the group that they were not funded by National Mind and so are always looking for ways in which people can help to fundraise, so that they can continue to provide much-needed support to people with ongoing mental health problems, as well as those going through a crisis such as divorce, workplace stress and PTSD. Wiltshire Mind also recognise the importance of supporting young people to try and prevent any mental health problems they are currently experiencing from following them into adulthood. 

Carolyn told the group that the charity costs around £465 per day to keep going and asked them to consider Wiltshire Mind when thinking of supporting a local charity. 

After Carolyn’s presentation, the group had a lot of questions and it was clear that it had struck a chord with many of the members, some of whom were willing to open up about their own experiences. One member commented on the importance of business owners “keeping an eye on their own mental health” as a family member who was also a small business owner didn’t feel able to speak out about their struggles and it ended in tragedy.

Another member, Tom from A Cleaner Group, based in Trowbridge, said that it was easy to see when someone has a broken leg, for example, but as mental health problems are often invisible, they don’t get the same recognition as physical ailments.

At the end of the meeting, the group’s chair, Stuart Harris from Attention Space and Kieran Thomas from Westbury based, Priority IT presented a cheque for £500 on behalf of Business Growth Group to Wiltshire Mind. 

“We are also keen to use our platform in the local business community to raise awareness,” says Kathryn Roynon, director of Corsham-based Kathryn Roynon HR & Training Consultancy and BGG Secretary. “Since Carolyn’s visit, members have been sharing information about Wiltshire Mind’s valuable work and how to get involved with fundraising through our website, local media and social networking platforms such as the weekly #wiltshour networking event on Twitter – spreading the word as widely as possible.”

For more information about how you can support Wiltshire Mind, visit www.wiltshiremind. co.uk/