A MENTAL health support group, which has hundreds of members despite only starting last December, is about to launch its own clothing range.
When Amiee Kujawa (McClintock) came up with the idea for the group, her vision was to provide a safe space on Facebook where members could share experiences and ask questions about mental health.
The group experienced an instant and steady surge in interest and although Amiee's priority is helping people in Northwich, it has members from several countries around the world, including the United States, Canada and Australia.
Along with offering people online help and support, Reach to Speak Out is about to launch its own clothing line, with t-shirts and hoodies emblazoned with logos to help tackle the stigma around mental health.
The Reach to Speak Out clothing range includes t-shirts and hoodies.
Speaking to the Guardian, Amiee said: "We've literally just been growing and growing.
"I'm not sure exactly what our number of members is, but we're just under 700, across five different countries.
"Although I do want to concentrate on the Northwich area, it's something I'd quite happily help and support as we grow.
"What I'd like to do is that for every item of clothing bought, we can then start to give grants to community projects and help people with mental health difficulties."
The clothing range includes both hoodies and t-shirts, which contain the tagline SOS - Stamp Out the Stigma - which are all designed to help try and normalise mental health and to tell people that it's okay not to be okay.
"In the future I would really like to be in a position to be able to pay for some privatised treatments for people, such as holistic therapies, like hypnotherapy," Aimee added.
"Even the likes of personal training, anything really that might stop someone being presented to A&E.
"The clothes are a little bit different because on the back of them they have a stress management technique printed.
"The hope is that every item, whether it be a hoodie or a t-shirt and even baseball caps, count towards eliminating and excluding the stigma around mental health.
"People need to be shouting about that fact the stigma needs to be excluded and that it's okay not to be okay."
The logo's feature in an effort to de-stigmatise mental health.
Amiee is in the process of having a website created and up until now has been growing awareness of the group via a page on Facebook, but would also like to collaborate with others in opening a physical hub in the town.
"I'm just taking things slowly at this stage and it is all about just building and being able to get some support to those who need it," she added.
"One thing I would like to do, as we come out of lockdown, if we would be able to open a hub in Northwich.
"There is something similar in Chester called the Spider Project, which operates a Crisis Cafe.
"It would be really good to have something centralised in Northwich for people who are struggling coming out of isolation and the lockdown.
"If anybody would be interested in collaborate with me on this, that would amazing."
Find the Reach to Speak Out group on Facebook for more information.
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