This year's theme is kindness.

We are all facing tremendous challenges to our mental health at the moment and the first thing to say is that all the University support services, such as Health Assured, are still available for staff should you need support.

While we are dealing with these challenges, we also wanted to mark Mental Health Awareness Week from the Mental Health Foundation. This year the theme is kindness, covering everything from a quick text to check on a friend, to looking after vulnerable neighbours or even volunteering to be in the front line of society's response to coronavirus.

As well as helping out, kindness is shown to improve wellbeing, both for the giver and the recipient. It is also important to remember to be kind to ourselves, as we adapt to a very different world, however temporary.

During the week we will highlight some of the ways we as individuals and as a community can embrace this theme of kindness.

Follow and use the hashtag #yorkindness to share your stories of kindness during the week.