Mental health initiative with Marks & Spencer

Ruby Wax is launching a ‘Frazzled Cafe’ – fortnightly sessions in Marks & Spencer stores to help those feeling stressed by daily life.

Eleven stores will be hosting the meetings over the next few months – with three in London alongside Brighton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Cambridge, Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Canterbury and Norwich – with more locations set to be added throughout the year.  

They will take place in shop cafes after hours and led by trained volunteer facilitators.

Comedian and  mental health awareness campaigner Wax launched the scheme, which comes after a successful trial in M&S offices and stores last year,  at London Book Fair today.

She said: ‘We live in a time where to have a life crammed to the hilt is considered a success story.  But with all this pressure, so many of us have nowhere to go to meet and talk about it. 

‘Frazzled Cafe is about people coming together to share their stories, calmly sitting together, stating their case and feeling validated as a result. Feeling heard, to me, has always been half the cure.

‘It’s special to get a company like M&S on-board. I’m grateful for the set-up support they’ve given us and access to their café network is a huge boost.’

Marks and Spencer say: ‘The meetings are not therapy, their purpose is to provide a space where people can talk openly with others who understand how they are feeling – a place where it's OK to not be OK.’

Frazzled Cafe takes its name from Wax’s bestselling book A Mindfulness Guide For The Frazzled. More details of the sessions are at www.frazzledcafe.org.

Published: 14 Mar 2017