Thought For The Day – Tuesday 13^th October 2026

Saturday was World Mental Health Day.  The global theme of this very significant day was: “Lived experiences heard: Real voices, real change”.

As an inspirational citizen and person called Nathan, featured, and quoted,  below, and pictured third from left in the second picture above,  states, we have the all the pieces of the jigsaw, but, we often need support in putting them together to create the beautiful, intricate, real, and unique picture that is us.

Whilst,  as Nathan shares below,  we need support to find the language to express our feelings, and a “Mental Health Tool Kit” to look after others and ourselves in the present and future.

Earlier this year,  in March 2026, former student of T.B.S.H.S., broadcaster and writer Greg James,  raised over £4 million pounds for the charity “Comic Relief”, by cycling around the United Kingdom.

En route,  as pictured in the third and fourth pictures above, Greg was surprised, and joined by, The Prince of Wales.

Both William, The Prince of Wales, and Greg have been advocates, and campaigned for, Mental Health for many years.

Because Mental Health affects everyone.   Princesses, Princes, People.

Indeed, in February of this year, the Prince of Wales, with three other wonderful guests, joined Greg James on a special “Radio 1”  “Life Hacks” broadcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0n1d6lf/radio-1s-life-hacks-mental-health-special

Naturally, as always, Greg James chaired this most sensitive discussion beautifully and empathetically, epitomising Greg’s own observation in the programme that: “People are stronger when they are with other people”.

Nathan, a guest on the programme, shared his inspirational journey and story. Nathan is an outstanding example of this year’s important World Mental Health Day global theme:

As a school student, Nathan was a young carer. But, as Nathan eloquently states in the programme,  as time went by, he struggled to manage his emotions and find a way of moving forward.

So, Nathan reached out to, and was supported by, “James’ Place”, an excellent charity that offers mental health support. Allan Brownrigg, Director of Clinical Services at the charity, also features on this broadcast, symbolically sitting beside Nathan.

In the programme,  Nathan summarises the process of supporting him, and many others, finding the language, strategies, and putting the pieces back together again:

“The best way I described it, when I was speaking to my therapist, was I felt I had all the pieces of the puzzle already in my head, and how to figure out the next steps to, but, because of all the stress that was there,  your problem-solving skills get put to the back of your mind. One of the biggest things for me were the cards that I used. It gives you a structure on how you are feeling and sometimes I really struggled to put that into words. I found speaking to someone who is trained to do these sort of things really, really helped the process and let me put these pieces of the jigsaw back together to let us move on and continue with my life. I see it as a set of tools and how I can fix or implement certain things if I am feeling a certain way, and keep myself moving forward. It gives me more of the direction to remain well.”

As the global theme for World Mental Health Day states:  “Lived experiences heard: Real voices, real change”.

We are very mindful of the pieces of our life jigsaw.

We are very mindful of the pieces of other people’s life jigsaw.

Together, we are one collective life jigsaw.