Event of the week: The Heart Movement's bus tour is coming to Hucknall tomorrow

An organisation that offers advice and strategies to help people to positively take care of their mental health, will be visiting Hucknall tomorrow (17th July).

The Heart Movement, a not-for-profit organisation, are currently touring the UK in an American school bus which acts as a mobile workshop.

This week sees the organisation's tour reach Nottingham and on Saturday their destination of choice, within the city, is Hucknall marketplace.

Ri Ferrier, managing director, said: "We're a community interest company, we've been going for about two years now. The vision behind us really is to bring wellbeing to as many people as possible, who wouldn't normally have access to it. We feel strongly that it shouldn't be a luxury, it should be something that is a foundation block for everybody, especially with what's happened in the last mad year and a half.

"We provide free snack bars and free teas for people. The vision really is for people post-pandemic to have a place where they can come and connect and have a cup of tea and chat. And also get some practical tools that they can take home with them, to be able to use in their own time, to help with their mental health and their happiness, and their level of satisfaction with their wellbeing."

In and around the bus will be different activities to try, such as mindfulness taster sessions and the monitoring of body activity through the use of biofeedback sensors. If that doesn't appeal, there is also space for people to just sit and talk with one of the organisation's facilitators.

According to mental health charity Mind: "1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England."

Ms Ferrier said: "We run listening spaces, which are really held spaces for people to come together and just be heard as to how they are right now. How do they feel about the transition back into the normal world? Especially with the big deadline of the 19th coming up. A lot of people are really happy, a lot of people are really nervous and it's just unprecedented. I feel like having a listening space to be able to express how you feel brings many benefits.

"We're teaching basic mindfulness techniques so there are taster sessions for that. Mindfulness, a lot of people think well that's just meditation, and actually it's more than that, it's bringing your attention to the present moment."

According to the NHS website mindfulness is: "Paying more attention to the present moment – to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you."

Asked about the motivation to start the company Ms Ferrier added: "I think a lot of the founding members of the organisation all had personal experience of the benefits of mindfulness. They all have huge hearts and a lot to offer and came together wanting to support people's living balance connection and resilience. Even a ten-minute mindfulness practice a day builds your resilience, so when life throws a curveball at you, which it does to all of us when we're not expecting it, you can bounce back up again. Just giving those offerings of support to people, really having felt it for ourselves, was the driving force behind the company."

"I think people are being much more vulnerable since the pandemic and obviously the whole isolation and not being able to meet other people has had a huge impact on people's confidence, self-esteem, we've definitely seen that. There's a lot of excitement around the bus, obviously the bus has only been on the road since May but it's really inspiring people which is lovely. It is an iconic bus because you don't see many of them over here but I think because of the dark days for the last 18 months it's perfect timing for some people."

After Saturday's visit, there will be opportunities to stay connected with 'The Heart Movement' for people who would like to continue what they've learnt.

Ms Ferrier said: "We have an app which is free. We have a premium version so anyone who visits the bus we're giving a free month's premium version of the app. That's something they can go away and download and they could do practices in their own time. We also have a number of online courses as well that they could do and hopefully at some stage (we'll be able to go) back to face to face courses."

The bus will be open to the public from 10am until 4pm and will remain on the market during that timeframe. The bus will act as a drop-in centre so no advanced booking is required to access the workshops.

Ms Ferrier said: "Just come down and have a cup of tea and a chat there's no commitment needed for anything, if you feel comfortable come and do a taster session but just come and say hi."

For more information about 'The Heart Movement' visit their website here .