Welcome to Brighter Berkshire

Brighter Berkshire Community Interest Company (CIC) incorporated in January 2018. It builds on the community led year long initiative over 2017 which aimed to help reduce stigma about mental health & improve local opportunities through engaging as many people as possible locally in conversations about mental health, helping to normalise and give parity to mental health issues.

The activities were driven and delivered by hundreds of people who have been affected by mental health issues, people who have used mental health services, carers of people affected by mental health issues and people who have worked in mental health services. It is through their passion and commitment we engaged many thousands of people in positive conversations about mental health.

As a group of volunteers, we worked in partnership with Berkshire Community Foundation to help raise £250,000 to fund local projects and voluntary organisations supporting those with mental health issues, plugging some of the gap left through austerity and cuts to local services. This money will be given to local mental health services on 7th March 2018. We also worked in partnership with BBC Radio Berkshire to help raise awareness through a monthly show called Taking Heads which was presented by 3 people who had lived experience of mental health issues. Listen to the shows here.

Our Board of Advisors have influenced the priority areas we would like to now help with.

1.Adverse Childhood Experiences – Helping educate the local population on root-causes of mental health in childhood. We will support the work of The Wave Trust and the groundbreaking initiative to support Reading as a Trauma Informed Community.

2.Signposting to support early help helping to make more visible the current resources across Berkshire and helping to connect these resources to support people who first need mental health support.

3.Workplace and employment to helping to increase awareness and reduce stigma in the workplace and increase local opportunities for people with mental health issues to remain in work or gain employment. We will support the work of Ethical Reading in their priority area of improving mental health in the workplace.

4.Crisis support to helping to improve the services for those who feel in crisis. We will support the voice of service users and carers to be heard in improving local access to services when needed.

Find out more about us

See our end of year highlight report here

Donate to a Year of Mental Health 2017

Check Our Activities

BBC Radio Berkshire Show

Make a Pledge to Brighter Berkshire

Total raised so far

Thank you to everyone who has contributed, volunteered and spread the word for Brighter Berkshire already this year

Get Involved with Brighter Berkshire

There are loads of ways to get involved

Learn More

Brighter Berkshire Events

Find an events near you

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Radio Interview with Eddie Winship 12 January 12 mid day.

Tine in to hear Alison Foster interviewed by Reading Legend Eddie Winship on Blast 1386 at 12 Mid Day. Find out how the year of mental health has gone and whats in store ahead.

Brighter Berkshire & Artistic Event Friday 26 January, Old Fire Station, Henley

We are delighted to be working with Artistic who have booked this beautiful space in Henley to showcase their artists work and also use the space to invite people to understand a bit more about the work their chairity and community partners do. We have the...

Brighter Berkshire Network Event – End of Year & What Next – Newbury 18 January, 6pm-8pm

The year saw a great many activities take place supported by hundreds of people giving up their time to engage in local activities and millions engage online. The initiative started in Newbury with a planning event at Newbury Rugby Club on the 16 December...

Please Take our 2017 End of Year Survey

We are nearly at end of 2017 year of mental health - raising awareness, engaging community & hopefully making it easier to talk mental health locally. But what next for 2018? Take our brief survey here to help us improve & focus & help. Thank...

Winner of 2017 Brighter Berkshire Song Competition Announced – Charlotte Perry

Charlotte Perry was the winner of the Brighter Berkshire Secondary School Song Writing Competition which had its finale at the annual Event of the The Rock Academy Foundation. It has to be said all finalists were amazing and the judges found it very difficult to chose...

Thinking Together Event – Hungerford

We worked in partnership with Healthwatch West Berkshire, West Berks Council, Berkshire Health-care Foundation Trust and Newbury and District CCG to facilitate an event for service users, carers and professionals of West Berkshire Mental Health services to...

Thank you to StageCoach West Reading

Thank you to the amazing Stagecoach Performing Arts School Reading West for having Brighter Berkshire as their end of term charity where we get to talk to a full house of children & parents about mental health twice in the day of approximately 150 people...

Matt Rodda MP Gives Out Business Award for Mental Health in the Workplace

Thames Valley Business Magazine for the first time this year had a category for workplace mental health. Thank you to Institute of Directors and the Cardinal Clinic for making this possible through sponsorship. Matt Rodda MP attended the event and spoke to the...

Pledges uploaded

I pledge to create a book of puzzles to raise funds for mental health

I wish to compose 100 puzzles by December of varying types. I hope to collect these 100 puzzles together in a book to raise funds for mental health. I will research the methods of getting a book produced and find all the resources necessary to create it.

I pledge to buy a T-Shirt to help promote Brighter Berkshire when I run

We pledge to promote creativity, build relationships, and battle stigma

We pledge to promote creativity, to build relationships, and to battle stigma. We hope that the young people and adults who join us, as audience members or participants in workshops, will be enriched, inspired and invigorated.

I pledge to actively promote this fantastic initiative with a key focus on raising awareness and reducing stigma

Specifically, I pledge to lead, with the Borough’s excellent public health team, a commitment that there can be no public health without mental health across the council and ensure we have a Year of Mental Health that becomes a springboard for future action and endeavours.

We’re happy to help facilitate the outcomes you’re seeking this year

“The world needs more Change Makers like the team at Brighter Berkshire!”

We will continue to be an active core member of Brighter Berkshire and provide support for Brighter Berkshire activity

As a champion, we will continue to support the aims of Brighter Berkshire, at any meetings or events we attend where Mental Health issues are discussed or raised. Through the Healthwatch West Berkshire website, social media and all our communications we will publicise Brighter Berkshire, its events and news where possible.

We pledge to support Brighter Berkshire

Mental health needs to be spoken about and we hope that students feel more comfortable in talking about mental health with their friends and staff.

I pledge to speak up about mental health and get everyone else to do that same

Better to talk than feel alone. The world will be open enough to help others out and get others talking. Let’s get rid of the stigma that surrounds Mental Health and get it to be accepted as an illness like Physical Health

We will provide free space to help promote BB with a pop up busk over the weekend of the 6th May

Our Pledge to Brighter Berkshire is to provide FREE space to help promote BB with a pop up busk over the weekend of the 6th May.
We really believe in supporting community enterprises as the community is at the heart of what we stand for as a shopping centre and we want to help more people in understanding mental health and also showcase the great work of Brighter Berkshire.