Unity Place launches Mental Health Awareness Week events

Monday 11th May marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Week (11–17 May), and Milton Keynes destination Unity Place is shining a spotlight on the growing issue of loneliness and isolation among remote and hybrid workers with a curated programme of wellbeing and community events taking place throughout the week.

A recent UK survey found that 58% of employees say they feel lonely at work at least some of the time, while 42% have considered leaving, or have already left, a job because of loneliness.

To help encourage connection, collaboration and wellbeing, Unity Place is hosting a range of free, community-focused events across the week, bringing together local businesses, creatives, wellbeing practitioners and residents from across Milton Keynes.

Events include:

· Monday 11 May – Mind Talk – Supporting Mental Health At Work at x+why coworking space, exploring mental health and workplace wellbeing.

· Tuesday 13 May – Wellbeing Pop-Up in the Urban Food Market featuring wellbeing tasters, expert advice and local support organisations.

· Tuesday 13 May – Creative workshops hosted by Lever Street and Studio Dumbar exploring brands and motion design.

· Wednesday 14 May – Breathe & Reset, a free lunchtime breathwork session.

· Wednesday 14 May – Quiz Night at Unity Sky Lounge.

· Thursday 15 May – Solo Connects social networking event at Unity Sky Lounge.

For many freelancers, hybrid workers and young professionals, the move towards remote working has created greater flexibility, but also reduced opportunities for regular social interaction throughout the working day.

Freelance creative director and editor Kiana Kamalian, 27, says prolonged remote working can often feel isolating. “A lot of my work goes into research, editing and presentations – it’s all just in a little corner by yourself, isolated,” she says. “When I worked with remote teams, we’d have a 15-minute call in the morning and that was it. You don’t get that contact time.”

Kiana says spaces like Unity Place can help recreate the informal interaction many people miss while working from home, whether through events, shared workspaces or simply being around other people during the day.

“The home office can get boring,” she says. “When I was sitting in the café at Unity Place someone overheard me talking about editing work and started chatting to me about it. I loved that. I feel like we need so much more of that.”

Unity Place says this increasing need for connection is exactly why it has developed a programme of events centred around wellbeing, creativity and community during Mental Health Awareness Week.

Adam Holbrook said: “Mental Health Awareness Week is an important opportunity to highlight the value of human connection, particularly at a time when many people are spending more time working remotely or independently.

“At Unity Place, we want to create opportunities for people to connect, collaborate and feel part of a community. This programme of events has been designed to encourage exactly that.”

For more information about Mental Health Awareness Week events at Unity Place, visit Unity Place What's On