Christmas special

This was a huge hit and we saw an incredible response from our individual and corporate supporters and so, due to popular demand we are aiming to repeat it this year. The winners are listed below.

Positive mental health messaging was very important during the festive period. As we know, it can be a challenging time for many, so we released our Advent of Kindness calendars for adults and children to encourage them to pay attention to their mental wellbeing in a positive way. Alongside this, our Christmas cards were as popular as ever and many travelled outside the UK, helping people stay in touch with friends and family across the world. Our Christmas Wellbeing Tips were popular too and more than 450 people viewed them on our website.

But that’s not all! Our Best Dressed Christmas Tree competition produced some heart-warming images where families had come together to decorate their trees and to celebrate. The Charlie Waller team were all amazed by the creativity and beauty of the submitted entries.

Our annual Carol Service took a different shape this year and became fully virtual for the first time in the history of the Trust. Whilst this required a lot of planning and team effort, it turned out to be a huge success as supporters far and wide were able to tune in and watch it. We had fantastic readers including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Damian Lewis, Jenna Coleman, Suki Waterhouse and Chris Tarrant. Our well known speaker Dick Moore delivered a heartfelt and passionate speech on behalf of the Trust.

We are very grateful to Bishop Michael Doe and Revd Brian Leathard as well as everyone at St Luke’s Church for helping make this event so special. The outstanding voices of Vox Cordis, conducted by Charlie Grace, made us all feel connected in these times of separation through classic Christmas Carols and it was made even more special by the added carols of Bradfield and Elstree choirs. We received countless messages from supporters afterwards who said that it gave them that special festive feeling despite it being a virtual Service.

Here are a few comments we received:

Thank you for all the effort that was put in to setting up the service and to those who played a part in it. We very much enjoyed the hour and, as strict ‘shielders’ – really appreciated the opportunity of being able to enjoy a carol service, virtually.

Thank you all for the most glorious Carol Service. We watched it yesterday evening on our veranda overlooking the Great Rift Valley as the sun was setting over Mount Longonot and it transported us to a feeling of Mental Wellbeing and Christmas Spirit. We had never heard the poem read by Chris Tarrant OBE before and loved it.

Want to help us provide much needed mental health education this year? Become a Friend of Charlie Waller with a regular donation

For those wanting to combat the Christmas indulgence, why not have fun connecting with a virtual team for #Fit4Feb during February? Get involved!

Raffle prize winners