Talking FreELY: Second Pop Up Café in Ely

Local mental health project Talking FreELY is holding its second pop up café at the Ely Cathedral Conference Centre. 
The café will feature an information zone, guest speakers, a mindfulness session, a light therapy room, hot drinks and cake. Trained volunteers will be available to talk informally with participants about mental health. The event is free to everyone between 9.30am and 1.00pm on 4th November.
Talking FreELY is for everyone encouraging people talk about their mental health. The group believes that the more people from all walks of life talk about mental health, the better. Whether you consider yourself to have mental health issues or want to learn more about wellbeing, you are welcome to the event.
The second pop up café is following a successful event last July at the Cathedral Conference centre where guest speakers with different areas of expertise in mental health came together, along with Talking FreELY’s listening volunteers and a pop up café. Ninety-three per cent of the participants of the first pop up café said they enjoyed the event. One participant noted, “I felt welcome and not judged, there was sympathy and cake, what more could I want! Seriously, it was great to feel normal and OK”. Another person mentioned, “Excellent stigma-busting event. Very well done, thank you Tony and all the volunteers. Inspirational speakers.”
This time there will be three guest speakers. One is writer Martin Baker, co-author of “High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder,” whose focus as a writer is to inspire connections between the ill and the well for a stronger, more compassionate world. Another is Dr Steve Case-Upton from St Mary’s Surgery, who recently joined Talking FreELY as a charity trustee. The third speaker is Jess Manley, Project Leader for Blue Smile, a Cambridgeshire based children’s charity that provides counselling, therapy and mentoring for children in schools between the ages of 3 and 13.
Also planned during the event is the presentation of an award to the winner of the poetry competition for poems that ‘Talk FreELY’ about metal health and incorporate the official NPD theme of ‘Freedom.’ The competition was announced on 28th September 2017 at the National Poetry Day (NPD). The winner will read their poem at the event.
About Talking FreELY
Talking FreELY has been set up to bring about change in attitudes toward mental health on a local level, here in East Cambridgeshire. The vision of the group is simple: A community that promotes mental wellness and empowers those suffering the effects of mental illness to step forward and seek the help they need.
Talking FreELY has been inspired by the national campaign Time to Change, which was set up in 2007 and aims to end mental health discrimination. Led by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, the movement has already impacted on millions across the country.
Keep up-to-date with Talking FreELY on Facebook, Twitter and the website
.