Miles for Mind

Carbon60 is proud to be supporting Mind UK as our chosen corporate charity via our ‘Miles for Mind’ initiative.

What is Miles for Mind?

Exercise can be a great way to help improve your mental health, plus it’s good for the rest of your body too. As Carbon60 is now a truly global business, wouldn’t it be great if colleagues across the world could come together to raise some money for Mind UK and help to support the great work they do? With this in mind, we came up with Miles for Mind.

Did you know that the furthest distance between two Carbon60 office locations is 10,514 miles, from Glasgow to Sydney? We pledged to walk, run, cycle, swim & cross-train our way there (without actually going down-under), while raising money for Mind UK in the process. Whoever wants to take part makes a promise that includes the number of miles they’re going to travel, and how much money they think they can raise. A tracker captures your daily activity, miles promised, and miles completed, and a weekly total-tracker will show us how many miles we’ve clocked up against our target. The initial challenge was to hit that target in 2018, and I’m pleased to report that we smashed it! We travelled 14,313.56 miles, and raised over £1500!

Who is Mind UK?

Mind UK is a charity that is working to break the stigma around mental health, increasing awareness, offering support to sufferers of mental illnesses and raising money to support initiatives all over the country. Their mission statement is as follows:

“We won’t give up until everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets support and respect.”

This is something we’re passionate about, as poor mental health can affect anyone. 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year, and 1 in 6 people in England are experiencing the most common problems (anxiety and depression) in any given week. So in an office of 40 people, 10 of them will experience poor mental health at some point during the year. This makes it a problem that everyone needs to be aware of, as it can affect work performance, and lead to sick days that could otherwise be avoided. As an employer and a recruiter, it’s our responsibility to make sure we’re providing adequate support to our employees and candidates if they’re suffering.

Employees need to feel like they can openly discuss any problems they might be having, and take time off if they need to recharge, just like they would if they were suffering from a physical illness.

But we’re not finished yet…

In a bid to shift the evidence of Christmas over-indulgence, we’ve decided to extend Miles for Mind for another 3 months, ending on the date of our company conference, 29^th March 2019. With lots of new promises already this year, we’re feeling very positive.

Keep your eyes peeled for an update after the deadline to see our final totals!

For more information on the services offered by Mind UK, click here.