Well Mental Walks

Well Mental UK began when two friends, Julianne Noon and John Barlow, from Heywood, met by chance through their own mental health journeys.

Julianne explained: "John was struggling with drugs and alcohol and has now been sober for around 19 months and I was very down and overweight and have now lost 5 stone. We decided to make form Well Mental UK to give back, share positivity and help others who may be in similar situations or need that bit of motivation and reassurance. Life can be hard, very hard for everyone - for totally different reasons. Our friend Scott Hardy soon joined our team and we are now set up as a Community Interest Company."

Julianne, John and Scott

The aim of Well Mental UK is to have a positive impact on people’s mental health and wellbeing by motivating them to get physically active and outdoors. They have created a safe and welcoming community for people of all backgrounds, sharing positivity and awareness of mental health to aid in recovery and change people’s lives for the better.

Julianne commented: "We both witnessed first-hand how walking and exercise helped towards making us feel better and reducing stress levels. "We now organise regular walks for our followers to get together so that people don’t have to walk alone. It can also be a great way to meet and make new friends. There’s lots of beautiful places to see and memories to make and everyone is welcome.

"We share stories on our social media pages of people that have been through struggle, no matter how big or small, and what changes those people have made and are continuing to make to their lives. Our aim is to have stories from people that have been inspired by Well Mental UK and what effects this has had on their wellbeing.

"We have had such a great response already; lots of people and companies want to get on board to help us. Lucy from The Thread Shed recently donated £400 for us to buy t-shirts to share with people who join the walks. And we have had lots private messages from people who struggle with addictions and are working on themselves, saying how our page has helped them."

Keep up to date with Well Mental UK’s events via their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @wellmentaluk.