A Keswick woman, whose cousin took his own life, is urging people to keep donating to her mental health awareness campaign.
Holly Horsley launched the campaign last October, raising more than £5,000 to produce bespoke beer mats printed with messages about mental health and suicide prevention, such as “It’s okay to not be okay”.
The 32-year-old, a former co-chairman of Sustainable Keswick, decided to take action after the death of her cousin Kyle Dilks who committed suicide aged just 21.
However the campaign was put on hold due to the pandemic, work commitments and pubs and restaurants being closed. Now, as lockdown restrictions end, Holly is redoubling her efforts to get the message across.
“We are in the midst of the biggest mental health crisis in history and we need to do more to spread awareness and help guide people to the right places for support,” she said.
“If we can help one person then we need to do this. We can’t delay any longer. Kyle lit up the room wherever he was, yet no-one ever knew the daily battle he was facing in his mind.”
Holly plans to keep her Justgiving site open, so that people can continue donating.
“This will allow us to print more beer mats and posters. Many pubs, restaurants, shops and salons in the North East and Cumbria are supporting the campaign, and we hope to take it further and come up with individual designs to fit the feel of the businesses involved.
“I am in discussions with a few pub chains in London.”
Over 10,000 mats have been printed so far with four different slogans and a QR code for the Samaritans.
To contribute, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/louis-nyas
