On the back of April being Stress Awareness Month, we have May which is Mental Health Awareness Month with its theme this year being ‘More Good Days Together’ which in turn relates to promoting mental wellness, reducing stigma, and fostering community support.

In this week’s column I thought I would look at this theme and each one of the overall topics it is relating to.

Starting with the ‘promoting of mental wellness’, I believe that for all of us it is an important factor of life but one we often push to the sidelines. Over the years we have had it drummed in how we need to take care of our physical selves, exercise, eat well, drink plenty of water etc. however it is seemingly only recent years that the shift is looking to incorporate ‘mental wellness’. I know from experience that taking care of our mental wellness will indeed encourage us to tune into our physical wellness as neither are more important than the other in fact, they go hand in hand when providing us with strength and the resilience needed to have a balanced life.

How you care for your mental health will pay dividends, take time to stop and ask yourself what have you done today to ensure you have nurtured yours, from reading a book to going for a walk / run whatever fits and feels right for you make sure it is part of your everyday.

On to reducing stigma, back in 2009 when I burnt out the first time it was hardly ever mentioned due to the stigma it carried. At the time I felt a failure, my confidence had dropped and I couldn’t see the light, however I am pleased to say that in 2026 we have come a long way. The stigma whilst still there exists now in small pockets which is so refreshing.

In 2012 I joined the ‘Time to Change Wales’ organisation which led the way to reduce stigma and I believe they did a great job, unfortunately they are no longer in existence but I know of many champions including myself who still carry the flag of ‘hold those conversations, help everyone feel included and stop the stigma for those who live with mental health conditions’

This mental health awareness month make it your mission to hold a conversation around mental health, reach out and assist those who through their smiles may be struggling.

The third topic is certainly one that over the years of living back home in Wales has shone a light for me ‘fostering community support’. Living as a do back in Monmouthshire having spent 25 years away, I know that the community support both personally and professionally has been one of the two crutches that have held me up, the other being family and friends. I feel blessed to live in the community I do, a walk up the shop always leads to meaningful conversations, a trip to town often leads to a cuppa with friends and a visit to any shop very often leads to a smile shared along with a quick chat about the day.

It is my belief that if you feel and become part of the community in which you live it can help keep you mentally strong, it can provide nourishment to the soul and a light on what may have started as a dark day. Today go for a walk around where you live, smile at strangers and take the time to speak first, you never know you may be the only in person connection that they have all day.

All the above lead onto the theme of ‘More Good Days Together’, let’s make May a month of enjoying that and in doing so helping others build their mental health to a stronger position along the way.