Wolverhampton friends' calendar project to shine a light on mental health issues
A group of Black Country campaigners say sales of a specially designed calendar aiming to provide practical steps for improving mental health have exceeded all expectations a week after going to print.
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The group of friends from Wolverhampton have come together to create a "Your Year" 2025 calendar which provides tools, resources and activities which have been carefully designed to support mental health throughout the year.
The original idea from mortgage broker and recent Psychology and Counselling graduate Nichola Johnson used her own mental health journey as the basis of the project, before inviting friends Wendy Powis and Bethaney Ridge to collaborate by adding their own personal experiences and creativity.
She says the concept came about as a result of her own experiences, which left her wanting more practical day-to-day activities to support the professional support she received.
"What began as a small concept has grown into something we're all incredibly proud of," she said.
"The concept is a 'one-stop', and each month focuses on different areas of treatment and therapy, the idea being that if a particular month resonates with you we can provide further guidance and direction on that type of therapy and get to a point where they can be guided to somewhere local where that kind of therapy is available for them.
"What I found was combining different things was effective for me, and from there it developed a passion for going into the psychology part.
"There were no 'quick reference' coping mechanisms, resources or strategies and that's what I wanted the calendar to be, so it's something that you can do and hopefully benefit from there and then - be it mindfulness, grieving, different types of therapy, hopefully it opens up avenues to different areas that you've not necessarily looked at before."
Anyone purchasing the calendar also gains access to an online Instagram-based community group where members can share ideas and help improve their personal accountability, while connecting with other people who may be in the same situation.
"It's essentially an info hub. What I wanted to know was how I could do something on a day to day basis," she added.
"What we've put together is a resource where all the information could be put in one place as opposed to trying to master the internet and start going down rabbit holes.
"From personal experience, I know this calendar has power to help so many people create a better more mindful year."
Anyone wanting to buy a calendar can do so online.
