ADULTS in Redditch are being encouraged to look after their mental health, as they do their physical health.

The message, from Public Health England (PHE), is part of the Every Mind Matters campaign which was launched on World Mental Health Day earlier this month.

The campaign highlights that while we can all feel stressed, anxious, low or have trouble sleeping, there are simple actions we can take to manage them and prevent

these issues from becoming more serious.

It also stresses having good mental health can help us feel and function better, and have more positive relationships with those around us.

Over time, having good mental health may also reduce our risk of physical health problems.

Redditch resident Roly Duke had a rewarding but demanding career as a fireman.

Appreciating the importance of being able to maintain healthy mental wellbeing, on retirement Roly decided to help people who may be feeling the pressures of daily life by setting up the Redditch Community Shed.

The 70-year-old, said: "Even though I loved being a fireman, it was a very stressful job and you would sometimes be in situations where you feared for your own and your colleagues’ safety, as well of those of the people you were rescuing." He added that it’s important to find ways of not taking on the pressures of the job into your own life.

When he retired in 2015, he wanted to do something useful that would be helpful to people who might be feeling stressed, isolated or lonely so set up Redditch Community Shed which opened in February 2017.

It now has 12 regular members aged from 40s to late 70s who mainly focus on woodwork and who visit around twice a week.

Roly added: “The shed provides a safe, relaxed environment where people can come and share their skills and their problems, and support each other.

"The members all have different situations; dealing with bereavement, caring for a loved one, coping with a medical condition, readjusting to a change in circumstances like having retired, or needing some downtime from family pressures.

"I hope that more people will start to realise mental health is something we all need to take care of every day, and that there are ways they can help themselves and support others to stay in positive mental health.”

For more information on the campaign, go to nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters.