TO HAVE A REAL IMPACT
Our mission is two-fold, centring around our desire to help reduce the UK’s negative mental health statistics while creating a positive impact on the society we inhabit.
Mission Possible 1
to raise vital funds for independent mental health charities who are providing free mental health services on the front line. This is another way in which we can support the 70 – 75% of people with diagnosable mental illness who receive no treatment at all.
Mission Possible 2
to EDUCATE, INSPIRE and EMPOWER people around the topic of mental health through our events and community work.
Be;Educated
By inviting specialists and professionals to use their extensive knowledge and deliver talks which educate people on developing or strengthening ways of coping with mental health difficulties. We also educate people on healthy habits, mechanisms, and strategies they can employ to try and prevent mental health decline.
Be;Inspired
By having inspiring people sharing their stories or survival and transformation, we want to propel people from apathy to possibility. Far too often we hear of people who have lost hope and given up, so it’s our hope that these inspirational stories will transform the way people perceive their own capabilities and motivate them to reach new possibilities.
Be;Empowered
We aim to empower people suffering with their mental health to help them adopt self-determination, increase confidence in decision making and increase self-esteem. It has been proven that those who are able to reveal their identities as mental health service users are more likely to display self-confidence. We want to empower people to speak openly about their mental health struggles and seek help if they need it.
Our team
As a social entrepreneur I seek to use my life experiences to have a positive impact on the society I live in, to be a role model and to prove to those in power what is possible when people who want to change are given sufficient support. I have enjoyed speaking on important topics such as mental health at organisations like the UK Home Office, the Bank of England and the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office. Enabling, and empowering people to speak up about their mental health and hearing stories of lives I have been able to impact is the single biggest privilege in my life.
What does mental health mean to you?
To me mental health is a full range of emotions from despair and hopelessness to elation and euphoria and anywhere in between. I have learnt that my mental health can oscillate on a daily basis so I have to remind myself when I am low that these emotions are transient and have an expiration date.
When do you feel most alive?
Probably when I’m jumping out of an airplane at 14,000 feet, (2.6 miles)! But from day to day, I feel most alive when I am able to help someone, or when I can see I’ve had a positive impact somewhere as well as spending time with my family and friends.
What techniques or things do you do to keep your mental health in check?
In 2017 I gave up alcohol and all the unhealthy vices which had a negative impact on my mental health. I then got back down the gym, picked up my favourite sports again (golf & football) and built-in new habits and routines which enabled me to feel at my best. I have to be intentional every day about putting my health first before anything else.
As a growth marketing expert with over 15yrs experience in creative agencies, my biggest passion lies with people. Around my full time job, I’m a fully trained mental health first aider, the Co chair for agency wellbeing, a trained crisis helpline responder and mother of two curly haired monsters. It’s safe to say I love being busy!
What does mental health mean to you?
Mental Health to me is how we get through the rough stuff. If our mental health is good, we can survive most of the bad. If it’s not good, we need that extra help. If we start to talk about mental health the way we talk about physical health, that help will come so much sooner!
When do you feel most alive?
With two children under 5 I feel alive every day. When they laugh, when they run, when they find my last nerve and drive me up the wall… They are my reason for being and as long as they are happy, my purpose is fulfilled.
What technique or things do you do to keep your mental health in check?
I dance. It’s my favourite form of physical exercise so I do it every day for an hour. I found it during lockdown when my resilience took a beating. I’ve lost three stone in 7months, I feel great both in body & mind and If my mood is awful for no reason I also do mindfulness techniques such as breathing, meditation & yoga. Knowing how my mind works has enabled me to look after it when it needs extra attention.
I am an experienced B2B sales and partnerships manager with over 10 years experience working within start-ups increasing their brand awareness and driving B2B sales. As someone who has been aware of my own poor mental health throughout most of my life, I am on a quest to ensure everyone is given adequate education, support and advice around mental health so we can once and for all remove the stigma around it.
What does mental health mean to you?
As someone who has been aware of my own mental health since a young age, mental health means everything to me. As Laura within the team mentioned “everyone has mental health” and you should never feel embarrassed or ashamed to openly about about it. Due to historically there being a stigma around speaking about mental health, people were unable to get the adequate support they needed and were unable to openly speak about their struggles. Mental health should be spoken about just as much as physical health and I am on a quest to ensure that when it comes to having children myself they are given education, support and advice around mental health in school, home and publicly so they never feel worried about speaking about it.
When do you feel most alive?
As someone who loves the outdoors and exercise, I feel most alive when I am on a run as it gives me the opportunity to escape reality, plug into my favourite music and enjoy the outside. There is no better feeling than when you’re feeling a little sluggish and popping on your running shoes (in my opinion anyway).
What technique or things do you do to keep your mental health in check?
I have to admit that I am still working on which techniques keep my mental health in check as each day I am educating myself on why I feel a certain way and how to control it, however, there are a few things I have learnt over the last few years which help me feel a little more balanced, namely – exercise, diet, talking and relaxing.
Exercise – without fail I wake up at around 6:30am and head to the gym to do 45 mins of exercise around 4 times a week. This is something that my partner educated me on as something that helps him and I have to admit that starting your day by raising your heart rate really helps me feel more balanced.
Diet – I make sure that I eat a healthy, balanced diet as this gives me the fuel I need to feel healthy and happy.
Talking – I never used to speak about my mental health until I unfortunately had a breakdown prior to the pandemic and I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning and felt so incredibly low. I felt embarrassed telling my employer that I was struggling with my mental health and I couldn’t tell my friends. It was the scariest time in my life but also the most awakening experience as it pushed me into realising that I need to talk when I am struggling and most importantly that others around you feel exactly the same. Understanding I was not alone in my struggles helped me so much. Now I will openly talk about my mental health and I am incredibly lucky to now work for an employer who supports talking openly about mental health within the workplace.
Relax – We all live in a world which is hectic, difficult and overwhelming so making sure I take some time to relax. This is one thing I struggle with the most as I love always being on the go, however, I am learning that burnout is real and everyone needs some time just to meditate, chill on the sofa and have some ‘you’ time to restore a bit of calmness.
10 years in B2B/B2C sales has taught me so much – now I’m a bit of jack-of-trades; working at festivals, project management & even a little bit of software stuff. I am a digital nomad and love the freedom the lifestyle brings! I understand that life can be a funny place to be when your mental state is not tip-top & you’re expected to remain upbeat and professional in customer facing roles. I hope in time, we are all a little kinder and a little more patient with everyone, especially those who work hard to provide a service.
What does mental health mean to you?
To me, mental health means having the tools which give you a resilient mindset, bossing all the curveballs that life throws.
When do you feel most alive?
When I’m in the sea. I love it but it terrifies me at the same time. I think a little bit of fear is good for you!
What technique or things do you do to keep your mental health in check?
Getting things out with a pen and a clean sheet of paper about how I’m feeling and what I can control. The visual representation really helps me.
I am a web developer with 15-plus-something years of experience with a passion for technology. I love working on projects that bring real value to the world, and producing the Be;Live website was an opportunity to be creative with a serious message. Six or so years ago, I packed in my agency job to go it alone, starting Riselabs as a development company. Now, I work entirely remotely in a new chapter of my life, travelling the world as a digital nomad.
What does mental health mean to you?
For a long time, it didn’t mean much at all. It wasn’t until I hit my 30s and a few years later that I realised how much “mental health” impacts everything. For much of my life I’ve “lived” with a state of mental health that I believed was just normal – average – and expected. I then, finally, after much persuasion from a good friend of mine, started taking real notice of my mental health.
In 2019 I finally had enough of feeling crappy, feeling down and going through states of anxiety and – with help (which took a lot to ask for) – I started working on my mental health. Improving my perspective and understanding myself better.
To me, mental health is the same as physical health – it’s a state which you can either ignore, or you can exercise it and work on it to feel good and “healthy”. I may never hit the Olympic level of mental health fitness, but I know I can impact it positively with the right efforts.
When do you feel most alive?
Travelling. Beach. Just… away! I find that being somewhere else occupies the mind so that the invasive and negative thoughts don’t get much of a platform to shout. I’m too busy seeing this, doing that or generally being fully engaged with another culture.
What technique or things do you do to keep your mental health in check?
Predominately checking in. By that, I mean taking time to understand yourself and see how you are doing on a regular basis. Taking time for yourself and excepting that you cannot be always on the worlds schedule and expectations is perfectly fine.
I also re-read a lot of a programme book called Thrive, which I highly recommend.
