“A small conversation can often have a big impact”, says mental health charity ahead of Time to Talk Day

A mental health charity in Wrexham is encouraging people to have conversations with family, friends, or colleagues as part of this year’s Time to Talk day.

The annual event, which will take place on Thursday 3 February, aims to raise awareness and break down the stigma surrounding mental health by talking to each other.

To mark the day, staff from Wrexham mental health and wellbeing charity Advance Brighter Futures (ABF) will be at Tŷ Pawb between 11am-2pm, and the charity is inviting people to come along and have a chat about how they are feeling.

“We’re fully supportive of Time to Talk Day and we want people to know that it’s always ok to talk about your feelings,” said Lorrisa Roberts, chief officer at ABF.

“A small conversation can often have a big impact on you and the people around you, but we realise people can sometimes struggle to take the initiative to share how they’re feeling.

“It’s not good to carry things round with you and talking about your worries with others can often make you feel better and ease some of the pressure you’re feeling.

“If you need to get something off your chest, please come along and see us at Tŷ Pawb on Thursday 3 between 11am and 2pm.”

ABF is also encouraging people to look out for any friends or relatives you haven’t heard from recently, who may be feeling isolated.

Lorrisa continued: “You can still take part in Time to Talk by reaching out to others, even if you’re feeling ok yourself.

“If you haven’t heard from someone you care about for a while, find some time to check in with them. A five-minute chat doesn’t sound – or often feel – like a lot, but in many cases it can be so much more to someone.”

Last year, ABF launched its Not Just Talk initiative as an opportunity for people to give their opinions to help ABF improve and enhance its services to meet an increased need for mental health support in Wrexham brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Part of the feedback from Not Just Talk was that people felt a listening service was missing from current services, so ABF would now like to ask a bit more about what this means to people and what this type of service could potentially look like.

If you have an opinion on this, please pop in to Tŷ Pawb on Thursday 3rd (11am-2pm) and share your thoughts with the ABF team.

Lorrisa added: “Our charity wants to deliver the best possible services by responding to the needs of people in Wrexham.

“The information we gathered from Not Just Talk was really helpful in identifying the need for a listening service, and we now want to make sure we get more opinions so we can deliver the right service to meet these needs.”

You can learn more about ABF and the services on offer at www.advancebrighterfutureswrexham.co.uk