Rochdale turns out to celebrate World Mental Health Day

Date published: 13 October 2009

More than 1000 Rochdale residents visited a mental health and wellbeing event on Saturday (10 October) to mark World Mental Health Day.

Organised by NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, the event was the biggest mental health event the trust has staged so far. It included a range of stalls and activities for people to get involved in to improve their mental health and wellbeing, including a free book stall, The Body Shop, Boots, Rochdale Mind, Change 4 Life, Cartwheel Arts and the primary mental health team.

The Rochdale Hornets youth team were also on hand to meet visitors and show them how sport and physical activity can have a positive impact on your mental wellbeing.

Mental health project manager Shabnam Sardar organised the event. She said: “It was fantastic to see so many people turn out to attend the event. It was a real partnership effort to make sure all local services were there to give advice to the public and show how mental wellbeing can be improved by taking part in sports, the arts, creativity and relaxation.

“Many people don’t realise that one in four of us will suffer some form of mental health problem in our lives, such as depression, anxiety or a more complex condition. High unemployment levels and the credit crunch is causing these figures to rise so we need to make sure local people can access all the support they need.”