At the start of this year, Spike selected Dorset Mind as its Charity of the Year for 2023.
Based in Bournemouth, Dorset Mind educates, challenges mental health stigma and inequality; and encourages recovery by empowering people to develop resilience. Their 1-2-1 and group support includes befriending, counselling, groups, and mentoring for adults and young people. Their training team delivers educational wellbeing for workplaces including the official Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). They also have numerous volunteering opportunities across the charity.
After the success of our first quarter initiatives, we’re proud to have continued into Q2 with the same energy, taking part in more events and internal activities this past quarter. We’ve also incorporated mental health awareness into our digital content, including our Mental Health Awareness Week blog focusing on supporting anxiety in residential developments, and event suggestions inspired by Dorset Mind’s key event dates, such as Pride Month, World Environment Day, and World Meditation Day into our 2023 monthly Community Engagement Guides.
Sherborne Country Fair Dragon Boat Racing – May 2023
The Sherborne County Fair Dragon Boat Race was our second major fundraising initiative of the year, which took place on the 29th of May 2023.
Our rowing team consisted of 17 members of staff, friends and family who picked up oars to raise funds and awareness of mental health in our communities, in a fun competition against many different organisations. It was a brilliant day, and we had so much fun dipping in and out of Dorset Mind’s rowing teams as well as our own Spike team to try and race for the fastest times.
Rowing was harder than it looked, but the team persevered and we learned a lot about teamwork, communication and pace, finishing with some respectable times for our first attempt, including a win for Team Spike in the first race! It was great catching up with many of our friends from the Dorset Mind team who also gave us some useful tips and hints from their experience at last year’s competition.
We’re thrilled to announce that we exceeded our £500 target, raising £772 towards funding Dorset Mind’s mental health programs and activities. These programs include mentoring and support for children, young people and adults, as well as training for more volunteers to help support our local community.
Thank you so much to everyone who donated to our fundraiser, and to all colleagues, family and friends who came to take part – we can’t wait for next year’s competition! 
World Environment Day Beach Clean Up – June 2023
Through our partnership with Dorset Mind, we’re proud to be organising a variety of activities aimed towards keeping our staff mentally healthy.
Following the enthusiasm from our first beach clean up last quarter which everyone loved, World Environment Day, which took place on the 5th of June, was an opportune time for our next scheduled beach clean. We followed Dorset Mind’s ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing‘ framework, developed by the New Economics Foundation, which addresses core elements such as connection, staying active, taking notice of our surroundings, trying something new, and giving back.
The team managed to clean up a considerable amount of the beach before we headed back to the office. Every year, 11 million metric tons of plastics enter our ocean on top of the estimated 200 million metric tons that currently circulate our marine environments. It was eye-opening to see the amount of litter which gets left on the beach during peak summer months, from plastic bottles to 6 pack beverage rings, these seemingly harmless bits of rubbish are notorious for entangling and causing harm to marine animals, and can often lead to the damage of ecosystems.
Many of the team returned feeling proud of the positive impact they had on our local environment, and refreshed after a peaceful morning outside. Not to mention treated to coffee and cake after a productive morning!
What Have We Planned for Q3?
Spike are proud of our charity initiatives to date, whether hands on or incorporated into our digital content, and we can’t wait to take part in more activities in Q3!
Next quarter, we’re excited to be taking part in another fundraising event, as well as more beach clean ups! In addition to events, keep an eye out for our content focusing on mental wellness, including Women’s Health Week, International Happiness at Work Week and more!
You can learn more about Dorset Mind and find ways to support the work they are doing here.
