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I'm organising a Parenting Mental Health(PMH) Big Picnic on the 21st July 2024 at my house.

Parenting Mental Health is a charity that has a special place in my heart and one that I now volunteer for. It provides a life line to so many parents who care for their child/young person and who truly struggle to navigate the lonely path of mental health.

By hosting this picnic my aim is to help raise money and awareness for Parenting Mental Health who rely on donations to continue their wonderful work.

A little about Parenting Mental Health

PMH is one of the few charities in the UK that specifically helps parents who are supporting a child with mental health challenges and whose needs and impact for positive change are all too often overlooked.

In most cases support is focused on the child and parents are left isolated, unaware of what the best approach is having to try and cope on their own.

The impact on families can be devastating. Friendships, social activities, work, school and family relationships can be disrupted. All energy is focused on the one child with their siblings often feeling neglected. For parents, realising that their child is struggling with their mental health, that they might be experiencing anxiety and depression, suicidal, self-harming or have an eating disorder, is incredibly difficult to come to terms with and accept and they feel totally out of control. They often blame themselves for the struggles their child is enduring. It is the start of an emotional roller coaster, with many finding it hard to cope having nobody to turn to for help and support.

How Parenting Mental Health began

PMH was founded by Suzanne Alderson who through her own experience of supporting her daughter Issy through depression, anxiety and suicide attempts, witnessed first-hand the total lack of support available for parents and decided to do something about it. In 2016 she set up a Facebook group aimed at addressing this gap in support and now the charity has flourished into an online community with over 44, 000 members from across the world.

How Parenting Mental Health helps

Current support includes:

- A private digital peer-to-peer support community with the support of more than 44,000 other parents

- A Partnering not Parenting programme which skills parents to build communication and hope for the future

- Chat and Connect - An online face-to-face service, which helps reduce isolation

- Respite programme - for those whose children are dealing with very long term illness, the chance for a break

- The Be Programme - which builds confidence and agency

- Information and guides

- Access to free resources