We're still collecting donations
On the 17th January 2023 we'd raised £22,927 with 84 supporters in 49 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.
Raising funds to provide mental health support for those in need. Creating a pay-it-forward community wellbeing hub.
by Museum of Happiness in London, Greater London, United Kingdom
On the 17th January 2023 we'd raised £22,927 with 84 supporters in 49 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.
We’re The Museum of Happiness, a grass-roots multi-award-winning not-for-profit social enterprise which shares the science and art of sustainable happiness in accessible, reflective, and playful ways.
After 3 years of working online through the pandemic, we have an incredible opportunity to create a new physical home at The Well Bean Co Café in East London, a community café in East London focused on supporting mental health in the community.
Provide mental health support for everyone in the community.
We’ll offer sessions every day of the week, removing the often expensive cost of accessing support, so nobody is left out! We need help to support the cost of delivering these, so support remains accessible for all.
After 6 years of experience we know that there are tools and practices to increase emotional resilience, make friends with our mind, tend to difficult emotions, and live a happier, more meaningful life.
We want to share this knowledge with as many people as possible.
While other low/no cost services are available, many need referrals, are over-subscribed, or feel unattractive to people who aren’t yet ready to acknowledge that they need support.
We attract people who are drawn by the idea of being happier (because hey, who doesn’t want to be happier?) There’s no stigma associated with coming to our events, so we reach people who wouldn’t dream of asking for help.
Talking about happiness then permits us to discuss what's making someone UNhappy. It allows us to connect with people who other services may miss, as well as offering a warm and welcoming invitation to those who recognise that they may benefit from well-being support.
Our aim is to create a community space where people feel safe and inspired enough to look after their mental health with more kindness and compassion, in a way which is financially accessible to all who need it.
The World Health Organisation states that mental health issues are one of the leading causes of disability around the world, with someone taking their own life every 40 seconds.
Just this month The Guardian reported that nearly a fifth of respondents to a survey about mental health and money have had suicidal ideation about financial problems.
Plus, the Covid-19 pandemic triggered a 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression; but governments worldwide spend on average just over 2% of their health budgets on mental health. This means we all need to pull together to make it a kinder, happier, more peaceful world in new and engaging ways.
But with the cost-of-living crisis, we know that many people are making the hard choice between eating or heating.
Looking after ourselves, through activities like paying for the gym, socialising, or healthy eating, are pushed out of our budgets - triggering a downward spiral in our mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing.
1 in 4 of us experience a mental health problem in any given year, and worrying about rising prices or meeting basic needs both intensifies existing ones and triggers new ones.
So creating stigma-free spaces which offer community, connection, reflection, and play have never felt more important.
Delivering accessible classes and sessions to help reduce stress (including financial), encourage better sleep, rewire the brain, and increase self-kindness to reduce suffering, become pivotal.
And offering them on a donation-basis - so that people can pay-it-forward through 'supporter tickets', contribute what they can, or attend discreetly for free (accept the session as a gift) is now crucial.
The Museum of Happiness is a not-for-profit social enterprise which has shared the art and science of sustainable happiness over the last 6 years.
We’ve shared the tools and techniques for greater resilience and happiness with thousands of people including the homeless, the military, ex military veterans, children, elders, refugees, members of the public, and big companies such as the NHS, Google, Facebook, Amnesty International, the Ministry of Justice and many more.
Research (and our lived experience) has shown that happiness and inner peace is something that can be cultivated, given the right tools, encouragement, and like-hearted company.
We create experiential learning events and sessions which share simple and inexpensive practices to increase our wellbeing.
At our new physical home these will include meditation, yoga, playful creativity, inspiring talks, sound healing, movement, social action projects e.g. 'packages of hope for the homeless' and 'buddy boxes' for lonely isolated elders, money management support, budget-friendly cooking classes and ways to share food and resources.
These will be alongside sharing and support circles for men, women, and elders, a youth club, and donation-based retreats.
These mean that people feel better while they’re attending, and provide simple things to take away which they can practise on their own to live a happier life. All with the support of a loving community of peers around them.
We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with The Well Bean Co Café, a community café focused on supporting mental health in the community. Their motto is ‘Feel Good and Do Good’.
We are on a mission to create a happier, kinder world from inside out. We hope that you’ll join us and support our campaign to co-create a kinder, happier, kinder and more inclusive world - together!
This project offers rewards in return for your donation.