Hundreds of people are set to take over Inverness in an event to tackle mental health discrimination.
Birchwood Highlands are aiming to bring together people from different backgrounds to share a mile in each other’s shoes, and chat about mental health.
The Walk a Mile event is based on the efforts of activist Chris McCullough Young.
After being diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder the former social worker walked round the edge of Scotland with no money, taking only a backpack and a tent, to change the way people think about mental health.
While on the walk he spoke to hundreds of people about mental health, staying with people he just met across the Highlands, and succeeded in changing people’s attitudes and perceptions ‘one conversation at a time’.
Now Chris and Birchwood Highland, along with national anti-stigma programme See Me, Befrienders Highland, NHS Highland, HUG (Action for Mental Health), Paths for All, Step It Up Highland and Scottish Waterways Trust are aiming to put on one of the biggest Walk a Mile events yet.
The aim of the event, on June 11th, is to bring together health professionals, carers, people with lived experience, students, anyone who cares about tackling mental health discrimination, to break down barriers as they walk a mile in each other’s shoes.
The walk will be led by local piper Liam Eaton, and the event will also feature street artist Nick Innes, performing with fire, juggling and doing some magic for the crowds.
Chris said: ““The idea of Walk a Mile is to get people who don’t normally talk to each other, who stigmatise against each other, and that goes both ways from professionals towards people with mental health problems and the other way around, to share a mile in each other’s shoes.”
The walk will starts at 11am from the corner of Bught Part beside Ballifeary House and people will start gathering at 10.45am.