A DROITWICH salon owner will be part of a team taking part in a nail-painting World Record attempt in London on Sunday (April 2) to raise funds and awareness of mental health.
Rachel Harrison from Inspire Salon and Academy on the High Street, got involved with the cause through organiser Stephanie Staunton, a celebrity manicurist and session technician she met through trade shows.
Stephanie herself has suffered with mental health problems and became aware of other issues, specifically the time it takes from when people suffer mental health problems to them getting treatment.
To raise awareness of problems facing people the team hope to paint the nails of 6,078 people – the number in the UK and Ireland who lost their battles with mental illness in 2015.
‘Nailing Mental Health’ takes place at the InterContinental Hotel at London’s O2 from 10am to 6.30pm on Sunday and those having their nails painted pay just £5 for their treatment.
It is hoped as well as raising awareness, £30,000 will have been collected for three causes – £20,000 for Mind, £5,000 for the Samaritans and £5,000 for Nailing Mental Health. If £5,000 is collected for Nailing Mental Health in its first year, it will then be able to become a charity in its own right.
Once Nailing Mental Health achieves its registered charity status, its aim will be to help people first hand by paying for private counselling or interim therapy while they wait the 12 to 18 weeks currently required on the NHS. That delay can and does have devastating consequences.
Rachel said Stephanie had put the call out on her Facebook page for nail technicians to get in touch if they could join the team and help break the record and she did not think twice about signing up.
Rachel, who has 15 years experience and has run her Droitwich salon for just under a year, told The Standard: “I think it’s a really good way to raise funds and awareness.
“I also don’t think people are aware of how widespread mental health issues are and how many people are affected by them.”
She added for every one woman who takes her own life because of mental health issues, four men do the same – another fact not well-known by people.
“Mental health is a very private subject for a lot of people and it is important for us to get to the stage where people start talking about it more and I feel this event will help do that.”
The nails will be painted in green glitter which is the colour of the mental health ribbon.
The cause and Sunday’s event has already had some very high profile tweets from celebrities including Stephen Fry and Leona Lewis who has her nails done by Stephanie.
Visit www.nailingmentalhealth.org.uk or search for Nailing Mental Health on Facebook for more on the campaign and Sunday’s event.
