Events
Painting, knitting, baking, dancing, climbing mountains and jumping out of planes - 7 months into our charity partnerships with Mental Health UK and Mental Health America, we reflect on our Subbies' fundraising efforts so far...
Back in March 2024, Substance was thrilled to partner with Mental Health UK as our official charity partner for the next 12 months. As well as our London office, we also have a team based in the US, so we selected Mental Health America as a secondary partner, with fundraising split 75/25 to the UK and US charities respectively.
This Mental Health Awareness Day, just over halfway into our partnership, we wanted to reflect upon our our Subbies' fundraising efforts so far and hear from some of the team who have taken part.
We kicked off the partnership on My Whole Self Day, celebrating an annual initiative by Mental Health England which encourages workplaces to celebrate and embrace our diverse identities and experiences. Our teams got crafty and created My Whole Self collages to represent different aspects of their personalities. Our craft session was fuelled by cakes and dishes from our bake sale fundraiser.
Our next fundraiser was an evening of painting and drinks for Paint Your Mind, encouraging Subbies to take mindful moments away from their desks and freely express themselves, using colours and shapes to put what they might be feeling on canvas.
To mark Mental Health Awareness Week and this year's theme "Move it Your Way", we held a fun dance class fundraiser, run by our very own Erin Wells (who, alongside her many other talents, used to be a dance teacher!) We also challenged our Subbies to find small, achievable ways to increase movement in their day to day routines, including taking the stairs instead of the lift and even knitting!
It was out of the office and into the sky for July’s fundraiser with our two daring Subbies, Danni and Erin, taking on a sponsored skydive for Mental Health UK. Check out their exhilarating day in the video below:
Erin & Danni's Skydive
‟I wanted to do something for MHUK that pushed me outside my comfort zone, I think it's an incredible charity and I knew doing something unexpected would help me to fundraise. So many people in my life have been affected by their mental health, and I especially see the impact work can have so I was really happy to support MHUK as our charity of the year - I ended up really enjoying the skydive too and conquering a fear!”
Danni Rowen, Senior Account Manager
In September, a group of eight Subbies took on the incredible challenge of climbing the Three Peaks in just 24 hours. Whilst various factors meant we couldn’t complete the entirety of the route, we’re so proud of our fantastic team who conquered the mighty Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest mountain.
‟Climbing up (and down) Ben Nevis was one of the most physically and mentally challenging things I have ever done but the support we gave one another while doing it and the feeling of achievement when we completed it made it all worthwhile. In a way, I like to think that it was quite appropriate as a challenge in support of Mental Health UK - even the hardest hurdles can be overcome with the right support.”
Barbara Giunchi, HR Manager
Our target for the year was £2,500 and we’re so happy to say that, thanks to our fantastic team and everyone who has so kindly donated, we’re currently sitting at a total of £4,504. With 5 months still left to go, we’re hoping to take this even further and raise even more vital funds for Mental Health UK and Mental Health America's invaluable work.
Read more about the charities and how you could get involved here:
Mental Health UK: https://mentalhealth-uk.org/
Mental Health America: https://mhanational.org/