Mental Health Awareness Week

Last week was Mental Health Awareness Week, with Body Image the theme, #BeBodyKind trended on Twitter all week. Mental Health, and Wellness in general, has been a common theme among requests for speakers in recent years, with people tackling the subject from a variety of Angles.

Former Ladies Rally champion, and long term friend of Performing Artistes, Penny Mallory, has introduced a new keynote ‘Increase Mental Toughness to Increase Performance’. It is a powerful 45 minutes that gets delegates re-thinking how things might change with more resilience, control and confidence in their lives. Penny’s aim is to help delegates re-connect with their vision, passion and purpose in life through increasing their optimism, confidence and grit with organisations benefitting from increased performance, lower employee turnover and increased customer satisfaction.

On the subject of resilience, comedian Stuart Goldsmith explains how the business world can learn from the resiliance required to succeed in the world of comedy. Stu has distilled insights gleaned from interviews with over 250 comedians in his popular podcast series ‘Comedians Comedian’ (10 million downloads and counting…) into an absorbing and inspiring talk for the workplace.
‘There is a concrete link between comedy and business and from the knocks I’ve had on the circuit...I can teach your team practical ways to bounce back from challenges faster and with more enthusiasm,’ says Stu. ‘Resilience is not something that anyone is born with, it is learned. I am not teaching comedy, rather focusing on practical advice and insights to help your staff and colleagues develop their own unique tool-kits for dealing with the inevitable ups and downs of life in work and beyond.’

And finally, from the world of sport, Arsenal legend Tony Adams, gives moving talks about overcoming depression and addiction and is the founder of the addiction clinic Sporting Chance and author of Sober, a moving account of his journey from alcoholism to sobriety and how he deals with depression. With an honesty that is heart-warming in the ego-driven world of selfies and bravado, Tony says: ‘People see the football side of me – the big mask, the big character. But underneath, there is this little boy who’s scared to death. By staying sober, day by day you get stronger and get to know your feelings.’

If you're planning an event with a mental health or well being theme, do get in touch to discuss the various options out there.