Walk a Mile coming to Moray

21st March 2017

Elgin in Moray is set to host its first major walk, to help change the way people think about mental health.

The Walk a Mile event is being arranged by SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) Support Worker Helen Low, who wants to get the town talking about mental health.

The aim of the event, on Friday March 24, is to show that mental health can be a topic of everyday conversations, and we are all responsible for creating positive attitudes around it.

The Walk a Mile campaign was created by See Me with activist Chris McCullough Young, based on his walk around the edge of Scotland, where he spoke to everyone he met about mental health, to change attitudes one conversation at a time.

So far thousands of people have taken part in walks across Scotland, bringing together health professionals, carers, people with lived experience of mental health problems, students, or anyone who cares about tackling mental health discrimination, to break down barriers as they walk a mile in each other’s shoes.
Helen Low said: "Bringing Walk a Mile to Elgin is really important. I hope that people in the area will come along to talk about mental health in a positive atmosphere.”
Calum Irving, See Me director, said: “Mental health affects all of us, but there is still a stigma around it. To tackle this properly people need to understand that it is okay not to be okay.

“One of the best ways to change how people think and behave is to make mental health a topic in day to day conversation, rather than a taboo subject people don’t want to talk about.”

The Walk will begin at 12:30 on Friday 24 March in Elgin. To find out more and sign up visit the Walk a Mile website.