UKG, Danilo, Clintons, Widdop and Co and May The Thoughts Be With You’s creator, Charlotte Reed were among those from the industry who participated in Mental Health Awareness Week last week.
Research confirms that one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem in any given year, with suicide being the biggest cause of death for men under 35 and the card trade is contributing in raising funds and awareness for the cause.
Coinciding with the launch of her new book, My Path to Happy, Charlotte Reed, creator of the May the Thoughts Be With You (MTTBWY) brand (published on greeting cards and calendars from Danilo and on gifts from Half Moon Bay) gave a ‘fireside chat’ to the staff of leading law firm Wynne-Jones IP during which she shared her struggles with depression, how MTTBWY came to life and how it helped her on the road to recovery.
In addition, as part of its support for the brand, Danilo’s marketing manager Claire Bates set up an insightful six page article in Psychologies magazine, based on an interview with Charlotte.
A Kirsty Barr, founder of GVPR has also kicked off a consumer PR campaign for Charlotte, which is likely to raise the profile of both the brand and mental health issues generally.
Meanwhile Clintons is not only committed to helping to raise the consumer understanding of mental health issues, but also generate funds for mental health charity Mind. As part of a two-year charity fundraising effort the specialist retail chain has dedicated window space and created specific instore PoS to promote that 15% of the purchase price (excluding vat) from its ‘Friend’ range available in its 340 stores and online will be donated to Mind. Meanwhile from August customers will be able to purchase Mind-branded pens from Clintons with 25p from the sale of each pen being donated to the charity.
Mind will also be on of four charities that Clintons will support with its charity Christmas cards collection that will be released in September. Clintons’ newly opened UK design studio is also working on producing a bespoke range that will launch in February 2020, with 15% of each card purchase price donated to the charity.
Nicola Miller, head of cards at Clintons said: “Mental health is a very important cause and an invisible, but often daily challenge which impacts so many people. We very much hope this will be a longstanding partnership and are determined to help raise awareness across our network of stores through a variety of campaigns to support the incredible work that Mind do.”
As reported by PG Buzz recently, UKG has also recently aligned with Mind with its new male greeting card range. The card publisher is donating 20p from the sale of each card to the mental health charity. (https://www.pgbuzz.net/ukgs-minds-on-mental-health-and-wellness/)
Meanwhile, Widdop and Co used Mental Health Awareness Week to launch an uplifting initiative to promote its The Happy News range of gifts.
Emily Coxhead, founder of The Happy News brand (which appears on greeting cards from Pigment) recently appeared on BBC news promoting the wonderful power of sharing positive news. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-47751960/the-happy-news-one-woman-s-mission-to-make-news-less-sad)
Widdop and Co is offering retailers the chance to win over £250 worth of Happy News gifts, which feature Emily’s cheerful designs and heart-warming sentiments.
All entrants have to do is share a piece of Happy News about their amazing business, wonderful staff, charity fundraisers or inspirational commercial initiatives via the Widdop website: https://bit.ly/2vN5kwS
Emily Coxhead herself will choose the winner at the end of May and throughout the month.
Top: The first two of a six page article on the May The Thoughts Be With You creator Charlotte Reed in Psychologies magazine.
