Let’s Move Together | Great BIG Purple Picnic 2024

One in eight children in Northern Ireland experience mental ill health – that could be three in every classroom.

This is an issue that matters to your friends. It matters to your family, to your neighbours. It matters to you. It matters to us.

Yet still, in 2024, the stigma around mental health means that too many aren’t accessing the support that could really help them. In a recent study, almost half of respondents reported having difficulty talking to other people about their own feelings and emotions.

This year, during Mental Health Awareness Week, we want to take a step forward – together. We’re inviting you to get moving with your friends, your family or your community to fundraise for vital mental health services and make it loud and clear that no one has to navigate their mental health alone. Because when one of us is supported, whole communities become stronger. 

We have created a brilliant resource pack to help you get moving more for mental health. With five days’ worth of activities and resources for all ages, including videos from professional athletes and instructors, tips and motivation to inspire and keep you going, games, decorations and content for your social media, website or notice board, we’ll make sure you have all you need to have a fun and active Mental Health Awareness Week. 

Our week of movement together will culminate with Action Mental Health’s annual Great Big Purple Picnic. Join us, wherever you are and with whoever you’re with on the third weekend in May, to celebrate our achievements, connect with one another and stand with those in our communities who are experiencing mental ill health. 

This exciting, family-friendly resource pack is totally free – a gift from us at Action Mental Health to you, our community. All we ask is that you consider donating to support our vital work, host a collection at your school or group, or invite your network to sponsor your movement challenge with a donation. Even the smallest gift will enable us to continue providing mental health support to local people who really need it.

Sign up to receive our free resource pack today, and you’ll receive an email containing all of the material. Let’s show the world that mental health matters to all of us. 

What’s inside our resource pack:

1. A week’s worth of movement activities, with instructional videos from professional athletes, instructors and friends of Action Mental Health
2. Information to help you host your own Great BIG Purple Picnic
3. Activities and craft ideas
4. Decorations and content for your social media channels or notice boards
5. Information about giving to or fundraising for Action Mental Health

If you have any questions regarding this resource, or you’d like to discuss how you might use it, you can reach us at [email protected]. We’d love to chat!