What it means to live with mental health Day2Day

Now, before I get to it, I don’t work for the Drum, but I have always coveted the incredible work that they produce at Do it Day. – Essentially Do it Day is where a whole group of marketing and tech professionals all get together, throw out their agency egos and all work collaboratively to a brief with purpose – a charitable cause that matters. 

For last year the topic of choice was all about the stigma surrounding mental health and it ran in London, Singapore, New York and also… Bournemouth.

Now the dream for Do it Day has always been very big. It’s not just an event. It’s not just a day where us agency folk can all “network”. The idea is simply put; 

Marketing can change the World! The Drum

This year, Do it Day was all about destigmatising mental health, and that is something very close to my heart… Actually, in having bipolar disorder, it’s very close to my mind!

Since being diagnosed, I myself have been looking to create, and add to the conversation that surrounds mental health and it’s stigma. I started to fundraise for mental health awareness – which culminated in running the London Marathon last year.

But it is by bringing together Mind and the Drum that I really started believing we could make a difference. – This is when we started working on the concept for Do it Day Bournemouth.

The Brief

Our brief to all who attended DoitDay Bournemouth was simple. With at least one in six workers experiencing some form of common mental health problem, including anxiety and depression; how could we normalise conversations about emotions and mental health?

How could we look to destigmatise mental health in the workplace?

We asked the attendees to create something/ stage something that must be tailored to fit within the ‘Dorset Mind Works’ campaign. It needed to pull people’s attention and help employers understand the true impact that mental well-being can have to their organisation.

Most importantly, the solution needs to be sustainable, achievable and impactful.

And this is what happened… 

We didn’t just stop there. We have launched the campaign!

The output of the day, became know as #Day2Day. 

Day2Day is a video campaign aimed to encourage employers and employees to talk about mental health. Running throughout March, the campaign itself consists of a series of short videos released every two days from business leaders and influencers in Dorset.

Participating are key figureheads from organisations such as AFC Bournemouth, the NHS, the Stable restaurant chain, the Police Crime Commissioner and Founder of Silicon Beach, Matt Desmier.

The videos will be a brief exploration into their personal experience of mental health both at home and within their respective fields of work.

With the speakers coming from a wide variety of industries and backgrounds throughout the Dorset area, the videos will hope to encourage people to engage with the campaign by sharing their own stories and experiences through the Hashtag “#Day2Day”.

By shedding some light on the subject, and creating a conversation within the workplace, our aim for #Day2Day is to help employers and employees learn more about mental health is, find the support they need if they require it, and pass Mind’s service onto their friends and colleagues who may need it.

Essentially, we’re showcasing Dorset as a flagship for people who want to destigmatise mental health, who believe in challenging the perception that it has in society – and if we can do that, then hopefully other areas of the country will be able to follow suit.

To see the whole campaign, go to Youtube. Or alternatively watch the trailer/ intro to the campaign below:

Hopefully, by watching these videos, it will enable you to: 

1. Understand what it is like to live with mental health #Day2Day. 
2. Enable, and encourage you to speak about any life experience you have of mental health.

Thank you for reading.

Dan