Support Wellness Walks
Wellness Walks are delivered as part of Mental Health North West CIC Ltd – a not-for-profit social enterprise.
Our walks, talks and events are free to participants who are suffering low mental health. In 2021 we delivered 432 hours of support to nearly 100 people – in 2022, as we come out of covid and understand the impact it’s had on people’s mental health we know we need to increase this substantially.
In order to be able to provide this support for people on a no-charge basis we need to raise funds. We do this by selling commercial mental health courses via MHNW, applying for funding grants and by asking people to make a small donation if they are able to.
If you think what we do is valuable then your support – no matter how much – will go directly towards helping us to help people take very real steps towards feeling better.
How we know it works
We operate in an area where emotions and beliefs are prevalent – we help people feel better and we believe being outdoors is a significant part of that process, we can see they’re more engaged, we all know that talking to someone really helps.
However we also appreciate that in today’s world people want & expect facts – so we endeavour to be a data driven provider. But – a lot of what we do needs to be confidential for participants – so all of our data (unless specifically stated & agreed by participants – such as testimonials etc) is anonymised . On average across 2021 participants on our Wellness Walks reported a 24.8% improvement in their mental wellbeing.
It’s been proved that talking therapy is as effective as medication in treating some mental health issues.
It’s also proven that being outdoors helps some people engage with the process much more. Which would you prefer? 45 minutes in a sterile consulting room or a wander out into the wonder not having to look at a clock?
People leave our sessions more engaged, more confident and knowing that they are not alone.
For many people heading out into nature may seem daunting – we get rid of that worry.
For many people a ticking clock is a scary thing – we make sure they’ve the time to be heard.
A lot of outdoor groups are aimed at large numbers – our sessions are designed to be low ratio to make sure participants have the time to engage, find the space to let go of worries and know they can pause and ponder as we wander along.
We’re not fans of labels at Wellness Walks, if you’re feeling low then we’re happy to take that at face value & try and help you.
But from time to time we may need to bring in a specialist facilitator or help you find additional support – so the more data participants share with us then the more we can help them.
Some of our sessions are designed to help people find and form peer support groups – so whatever the issue we’ll look to engage you in the outdoors and with other people.
Connection with
Mental Health North West
Mental Health North West (MHNW) CIC Ltd is the ‘not-for-profit organisation’ that delivers Wellness Walks.
Sadly there’s still far too much stigma surrounding mental health in the UK. Whilst funding and referring partners, as well as corporate organisations booking our courses, all like the MHNW brand we saw that engagement by the general public was noticeably lower on MHNW events compared to when we ran them as Wellness Walks.
Ultimately what we’re trying to achieve is to help as many people as possible – so we now run our support programs under the heading of Wellness Walks & it has it’s own public facing website.
What we do with your money
If you’re kind enough to help support what we do then we think you’ve a right to know what we do with your donation.
We make sure that as much of your money as possible goes directly towards the provision of free Wellness Walks.
All of our major programs have an allocation for project management. We (& our lovely funders) know that programs that aren’t managed, that don’t measure and report back – well they tend not to work. All of our programs have designed outcomes and are actively promoted and managed to maximise participant benefit.
We use the surplus from our commercial courses to do the things no-one ever notices – website hosting, equipment for participants, booking system fees etc. Boring – but vital!
Other ways you can suport us...
We’re always ready to have a chat if you’d like to get involved in what we do.
Some folks have been kind enough to make us the focus of their 2022 fundraising – so if you fancy giving yourself a challenge – whether its hiking the Wainwrights, baking cakes or simply asking for birthday donations – then we’re more than happy to try and support you with branded materials (new range of “I’m supporting Wellness Walks” materials coming soon)
Equally if you think we could do better – or there are some new tricks us old dogs need to learn – then we’re also happy to have a chat.
Ultimately, if you do choose to support us in any way – then please know that we’re immensely grateful and that it really does make a difference to the people who come on our walks,
Thank you from everybody at Wellness Walks!
Things you can buy to supp0rt us....
Enamel Pin Badge
This smart little enamel on nickel badge is a lovely way to show your support for Wellness Walks or even better – a conversation starter so you can tell other folks about the work we do. It might just help you let someone know there are options – there is support out there for them.
