Bolton Whysup's new challenge to look after mental health

Whysup was a group started by two Bolton school friends, Liam McBride and Mark Murray, who’ve both experienced battles with addiction and mental health.

Since then they have made it their mission through Whysup to support people going through the same hardship.

Their latest challenge ­— The Whysup Challenge ­— asks people to say how they have looked after their mental health on a given day, and then challenge others to do the same with a picture and post on social media.

Mr McBride said: “It has proved really popular, promotes a proactive approach to mental health and hopefully inspires others to do something for their own.

“Whysup was affected by the current pandemic like most other people and organisations but we made a decision early on that we would ensure we stayed positive.

“We wanted to ensure we could continue with our support work and ensure we put positive, practical and relevant social media content out during this time.

“One of the biggest risks at present is the effect of the lockdown on metal health and so we wanted to encourage people to take a proactive and positive approach to taking care of your self both physically and mentally.

“Mark created the Whysup challenge to show how he had taken care of his mental health that day and nominated others to do the same.

“The aim was not only to get people doing something in the day for their own mental health but also to show the variety of things that could be done and hopefully inspire others to do the same.”

So far this has included pictures of exercise, reading, music, and gardening to highlight how people are looking after their mental health through lockdown.

Liam added: “Everyone takes a picture and posts what they have done and nominates a few more people to do the same. However we don’t want people to only do it if nominated, everyone is welcome.”

For more information, visit whysupofficial on Facebook or whysup.co.uk.