McDonald's restaurants offering pop-up mental health support

[dutchman]

Anyone who needs support can pop in for a listening ear - and you don't need to buy anything



Mental health support will soon be offered at Coventry McDonald's restaurants. The pop-ups will run at seven branches of the fast food chain operated by local franchisee John Kiely.

He has teamed up with Coventry and Warwickshire Mind for the new initiative. Support will initially be available every four to six weeks, rotating across the different restaurants.

Anyone who needs support with their mental health can pop in for a listening ear and to be signposted toward appropriate local services for more help moving forwards. No purchase is necessary and members of the public can just call in when they feel they need to talk.

The idea came from Dee Hodgson, of Coventry and Warwickshire Mind. She has worked in frontline and signposting support services for over 15 years, including working within acute mental health and out-of-hours crisis services.

Mr Kiely MBE said: "I am so proud to offer this vital support in all my restaurants – we’re offering this support to everyone in the community, not just customers. With the current rise of mental health issues, it’s critical as a local business owner that I do my part to give back to our local community.

"I hope that the new service available in my restaurants goes some way to help support our staff and customers and I would like to thank Coventry and Warwickshire Mind and Dee for working with me on this initiative."

Dee said: "I applaud the Coventry McDonald’s team for their decision to give our local community easy access to vital support which can really make a difference. We are really looking forward to meeting more people from around the city and working with John and his crew to make a positive impact."

The support will be available between 12pm–2pm on the following dates so far, with new dates being added each month:

• Canley - June 15
  
• Binley, Coventry - July 13
  
• Holyhead Road, Coventry - August 10
  
• Cross Cheaping/West Orchards, Coventry - August 31
  
• Abbey Park, Coventry - September 28

[dutchman]

We'll all need it before this election is over!