Since its inception in 2018, Kelly’s Heroes has made a powerful impact within the mental health community, delivering vital support to those in need and ensuring no one has to struggle alone.
To honour Kelly’s legacy, the charity launched Kelly’s Day, an annual awareness initiative to be held on her birthday, with its first event, on May 11, receiving an overwhelmingly positive response from the community.
The day, created in memory of Kelly Hewitt, exceeded expectations, with the backing and participation from individuals, local businesses, schools and the wider community. Through the various campaign elements, the event successfully brought people together to spark meaningful conversations around mental health, to spread kindness and raise awareness of the support available through Kelly’s Heroes.
At the heart of the day’s activity was The Pink Hut at Rushden Lakes, where volunteers, wearing the newly launched ‘Dear Person’ hoodies – available via the charity’s online shop – connected directly with members of the public. Handwritten notes, each carrying a message of kindness and encouragement, were delivered to every store and eatery, along with the charity’s social media details, to continue the conversation beyond the day. The response from businesses was incredibly positive, with many warmly engaging and opening up meaningful conversations.
The Pass A Note On initiative proved especially powerful. Recipients shared touching reactions, including one moment where a woman, visibly moved by her message, immediately passed it on to a friend, leading to an emotional embrace demonstrating the immediate and heartfelt impact of small acts of kindness.
Kelly’s Day was further supported by mental health advocate Connor (@conzjourney), who joined the team for much of the day. Connor, who has built an engaged following of over 1,300 on Instagram and more than 15,000 on TikTok, is passionate about promoting positive mental health. With great enthusiasm for helping Kelly’s Heroes expand its reach, particularly among younger audiences, Connor is likely to be a familiar face at some of the charity’s upcoming events.
School participation was slightly limited as it was SATs week, but there were still some great contributions and some trusts committing to supporting the initiative later in the year.
The goal of the day was awareness rather than fundraising, but through bake sales, donations and raffles more than £1,000 was raised, which is hugely appreciated and will directly support the charity’s ongoing work.
Rachael Hewitt, Founder of Kelly’s Heroes said: “We are incredibly proud of what was achieved, the goal was to get people talking, create visible acts of kindness and raise awareness of what we do. The level of engagement from our community has been amazing and the conversations we saw throughout the day were exactly what Kelly’s Day was created for. If we encouraged even one person to open up or reach out, then we’ve succeeded, but it’s clear we reached many more than that.”
Kelly’s Day will now be an annual fixture in the charity’s calendar, building on this year’s success to grow participation across schools, businesses and communities.
For more information about Kelly’s Heroes and the support offered, or to get involved and support the charity’s work, email events@kellysheroes.org.uk or visit our website here.
