The third Monday of January is said to be the most depressing day of the year, but the team at ‘The Stable‘ in Bournemouth are hoping make people smile with their array of coloured shirts.
The GYST (Get Your Shirt Together) campaign was founded by Maddie Crawford with the aim of creating a carefree approach to discussing mental heath, and brightening someones day.
The staff at The Stable Bournemouth will be wearing Haywain shirts to work today.
A spokesperson said: “It’s a simple gesture, but even if it raises only one smile or gets only a tiny chuckle, it’s doing its job in helping someone through Blue Monday.”
Maddie Crawford created the GYST campaign and explains on her blog where the idea came from: “Get Your Shirt Together is an event concept I had back in Summer to raise money for Dorset Mind, a charity local to me that supports people that struggle with mental health issues and they also work so hard to get rid of the stigma surrounding mental health problems.
“I’ve always wanted to do something like this with Dorset Mind but always lacked the motivation & had no clue to start.
“I spent a lot of time at home, sick in Summer rather than at my job where I’d have preferred to be by far, so in the midst of feeling sorry for myself, I thought I’d try and do something productive, and so, on paper Get Your Shirt Together was born.
“Although at this point it didn’t have a name, just a concept of ‘Why don’t I make the digital agencies of Dorset go to work in dress up?’ and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing since then.”
You can read more about Maddie Crawford’s story and her ”Get Your Shirt Together’ campaign on her blog.
Free teabags handed out by Samaritans at Bournemouth Station for Blue Monday