Cup of Hope Campaign

Two of the Rockingham Media CIC directors have personally undertaken training as Mental Health First Aiders and it is through that training that we have become even more aware of the dominance of mental health in our everyday lives.

Shaun Bennett, one of those directors acknowledges that he has come to realise that he has experienced episodes of mental ill-health without diagnosis or conscious awareness at times in the past 20 years. It was through his training and more recent experiences that he now identifies those occasions and that has inspired the idea of doing something positive, to develop a way of reaching out to others in a subtle, yet supportive, way and  that was the making of the #CupOfHope campaign idea.

We have all shared a cup of tea or coffee and poured our heart out to a friend or relative at some time in our lives.  That “magic cup of tea” is the basic connection we make when reaching out for, or to offer our, support. Not everyone can have that drink with someone when they feel down, or anxious. They might find themselves physically alone, too, and that is a time when they are most in need of hope.

There are various groups into which services could be clustered, such as: mental health as a general term, anxiety and depression, bereavement, substance abuse/dependence, domestic violence, abuse, rape, trafficking to name but a few and the #CupOfHope campaing would create a variety of branded cups aligned to essential contact details for local or national organisations that support these categories, and more.

As a campaign, actively producing and distributing at least 1,000 FREE cups of hope to community wellbeing groups, to small charities and to self-help support groups gives hope in the form of a cup to drink from which bears one or more important telephone numbers acts as a constant reminder that help is just a phone call away. If they choose to ask for a small donation for each #CupOfHope they can also generate essential funds for themselves without the significant expense of producing these cups within the commercial domain.

In looking for a viable source of cups for this campaign we have identified a supplier with “imperfect” cups for sale which seems very befitting to this cause as our mental health is an indicator to us all that, as human beings, we are not perfect. As imperfect human beings, however, we are no less valuable than any other.

Sourcing "imperfect" cups in bulk enables us to keep the cost down, too. We have access to, and the support of, a local business that will help produce the finished cups to the designs and quantities that we require.

Whilst this fundraiser is to make and distribute 1,000 FREE cups of hope, we are also hopeful that the concept can become a sustainable campaign, making this the first 1,000 but certainly not the last.