On Thursday 21st January, Jami held their annual fundraising event online.
The event, titled ‘Youtopia’, demonstrated how the Covid crisis has had a critical impact on mental health; how Jami’s services have adapted to continue delivering services; and what a post-Covid utopia might look like to each of us.
Welcoming the audience, host Rachel Riley said “Jami’s work has never been more important. We are all feeling the mental health impact of the pandemic directly and the number of people reaching out to Jami for help grows daily.”
“We are so privileged to have an organisation dedicated to ensuring everyone in our community who needs life-changing mental health support is able to access it”, said Rachel Riley
In films shown, Alex and Ellie bravely shared their own experiences of mental illness, in the hope that their journeys would inspire others to reach out and get support. In one conversation between mental health campaigner Jonny Benjamin MBE and Susan, a mother who tragically lost her son to suicide, Susan said, “If we can prevent even one person from taking their own life, it will have been worth it.”
Jami Chair, Adam Dawson, spoke about the increasing challenge to provide Jami’s lifesaving mental health services while demand exponentially increases. As an organisation that is almost 100 percent voluntary funded, Jami relies on the incredible generosity of the community to continue funding those vital services.
“The mental health impact of the pandemic is likely to be far longer lasting than the virus itself. My utopia is that everyone in our community who needs Jami services, can get them” Laurie Rackind, Jami Chief Executive
We hope you enjoyed our Youtopia event, but if you missed it or would like to watch it again you can view it here.
