Darlington Mind encourages young people to get active for their mental and physical health.

In January, Darlington Mind, local mental health charity, will start their brand-new initiative called Lose The Blues. Lose The Blues is a project which encourages young people to walk or run regularly throughout January, to improve both their physical health and their mental health, as well as raising awareness for mental well-being. Darlington Mind are offering this project because January can be a very gloomy month for many, so they’re looking to put positivity back into that month, one step at a time. It’s part of their young person project, called DeCaf, which is an activity club for young people, which has the emphasis on being a safe space where they are able to discuss their mental health issues. Lose The Blues is not just limited to young people though, it’s accessible and open to everyone. Any person can sign-up, especially if it means supporting someone in your bubble.

After each excursion, or after each week, you can send us your total accrued miles and they get added to the database. Obviously, the benefits are all internal, so there is no need for a competitive element but there will be a soft counter to see how much a certain group or school can achieve as a collective. It’s meant to inspire other people to take it up and feel the effects of going outside, embracing nature and to get the endorphins rushing with exercise. Due to lockdown restrictions, it’s impossible to meet-up as groups, so there are online forums in which people can post their regular updates. There is a growing community feeling with this project, where each run/walk feels like you’re supporting each other to carry on.

Darlington Mind are not doing this alone, as they have the help from many local organisations. The idea is supported by North Yorkshire Sports and they are helping promote the programme to their young people, alongside another one of their mental health programmes Fit 4 The Future. On top of that it is supported by many local walking/running groups and businesses, to help encourage the new excises to sign-ups.

On this subject, Darlington Mind’s CEO, Simon Davidson, commented “Darlington Mind seeks to bring together young people to take part in regular online community activities, be part of new and exciting social action projects like Lose The Blues which look to help the local community and bring young people together to celebrate positive mental health”. He went to on to say “Let’s get the new year off to a flying start!”

Sign-up Form: https://forms.gle/fDSM84nznwpNZonp9

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/202538381429032

Social Media: @DarlingtonMind @DeCafMind