As part of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, Pepper’s has been out and about meeting members of the community, spreading awareness about the work we do and raising funds.

It was a wonderful week for Pepper’s and it began nice and early on Tuesday morning. We arrived at the cattle market to set up our stall full of plants, puzzles, socks and much more and we had the opportunity to chat to lots of locals about the services we offer at Pepper’s.

On Saturday you may have spotted us in Melton market place. It was a gloriously sunny day and many of you joined us to buy some of our beautiful plants and hear all about the work we do to support members of the community.

Pepper’s was supported by some fantastic local businesses and individuals who donated prizes to our raffle. Some very happy winners enjoyed prizes donated by Beauty Box, Whitehouse Photography, Martin Riley Tree Services, Aeroseals, Foxy Lots, Nigel at 54a King Street Café, Melton Macrame, Bentleys Wood Products and Pauline Collier.

This year’s theme focused on loneliness; something that all our sessions aim at combatting. Throughout the week we’ve had the chance to let locals know about our welcoming centre at 53 King Street. A safe space for anyone in the community who may need support to break the cycle of isolation. Our art and photography competition was also an opportunity to reflect on the theme of loneliness and gave many of you the chance to get out and about and enjoy being creative. We had some brilliant entries and it made it very difficult for our judges to pick a winner! You can have a look at the winning entries here.

Thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered, raised awareness, visited our stall and entered our competition and raffle!

And if you, or perhaps someone you know, has been feeling a little lonely these days then why not come to one of our friendly drop-in sessions. All adults are welcome to call in for a chat over a cuppa. You can find more details about our sessions and the services we offer here.