Mental Health Awareness Week 2027

When is Mental Health Awareness Week and what is the theme?

The week always falls in May and runs from Monday to Sunday. In recent years it has taken the second full week of the month: 13 to 19 May in 2024, 12 to 18 May in 2025 and 11 to 17 May in 2026. The Mental Health Foundation has confirmed 10 to 16 May 2027. Its official campaign page is the source for current dates and resources.

An applicable 2027 theme has not been verified in the organiser sources checked for this guide. The most recent theme, for 2026, was Action, summed up as “Action: for yourself, for someone else, for all of us”. The idea was that awareness on its own is not enough, and that small practical steps, from a walk with a friend to writing to your MP, make a real difference.

Earlier themes give a sense of the range the week covers: community, movement, anxiety, loneliness, nature, kindness and body image have all been the focus of recent years, and older weeks looked at stress, relationships, sleep, alcohol and friendship.

How to take part at work

The Mental Health Foundation’s statistics show that about one in five adults in England has a common mental health condition such as anxiety or depression, so most teams will include people living with one. Practical ideas for employers include:

• Share the official supporter pack and theme with staff a week in advance, so the week does not arrive as a surprise.
• Hold a short session where senior leaders talk honestly about their own wellbeing. This does more to reduce stigma than any poster.
• Remind people how to reach your employee assistance programme, occupational health or mental health first aiders, and check the details are current.
• Build the theme into existing meetings rather than adding events. A ten-minute check-in at the start of a team meeting costs nothing.
• Review flexible working, workload and return-to-work policies, which affect mental health far more than a single week of activity.
• Organise a lunchtime walk or a tea and talk fundraiser for the Mental Health Foundation.

How to take part in schools

Schools and colleges mark the week with assemblies, PSHE lessons and form-time activities built around the theme. Ideas that work at primary and secondary level:

• Run an assembly explaining that everyone has mental health, in the same way everyone has physical health, and that it goes up and down.
• Give pupils a simple vocabulary for feelings and show them who they can talk to in school, with names and faces on display.
• Link the theme to something physical: a daily mile, time in the school garden, or a kindness challenge.
• Include staff. Teachers and support staff need the same conversations, and pupils notice when adults model them.
• Point older pupils to Childline (0800 1111) and to the school counsellor or pastoral team, and tell parents what the school is doing so they can continue it at home.

Schools that want a younger focus can also use Children’s Mental Health Week in February, which is aimed specifically at pupils.

What happens in the UK during the week

Because the week is so widely recognised, activity happens at every level. The Mental Health Foundation publishes a free supporter pack with posters, social media graphics and an action guide tied to the theme. NHS trusts and GP practices promote their talking therapies services and self-help tools. Councils and libraries run drop-in sessions and wellbeing walks. Broadcasters and newspapers carry features and personal stories, and MPs and MSPs raise mental health in Westminster and Holyrood. Supporters also fundraise for the Foundation through sponsored walks, bake sales and tea and talk events.

Most of what happens is local and small-scale: a staff lunch where people actually talk, a primary school assembly, a football club opening its doors for a walk-and-talk. That is the point. The Foundation describes the week as a prompt for action that can carry on long after the Sunday.

Looking after your own mental health

You do not need an organisation to take part. The NHS recommends five steps to mental wellbeing: connect with other people, be physically active, learn new skills, give to others, and pay attention to the present moment. Picking one of these and doing it every day of the week is a realistic goal, and it matches the spirit of the most recent theme.

If you are struggling, you can refer yourself to NHS talking therapies in England without seeing a GP, and your GP can arrange support anywhere in the UK. If you need help urgently, the NHS advises calling 111 (24 hours a day), ringing Samaritans free on 116 123, or texting SHOUT to 85258. If you have seriously harmed yourself or feel you are about to, call 999 or go to A&E.

A short history

The early weeks concentrated on a single issue each year, such as stress or relationships, with the Foundation publishing a research report alongside the campaign. As media interest grew, the week became a fixture in the calendars of employers, schools and the NHS. The Foundation says that in 2025 roughly four in five adults in the UK were aware of the week and more than two in five employers hosted an event to mark it. Twenty-five years on, the week is still owned and coordinated by the same charity, which is why its official resources, hashtags and theme all come from mentalhealth.org.uk rather than from a government department.

Related awareness days

• World Mental Health Day, 10 October, the international day with a theme set by the World Federation for Mental Health.
• Time to Talk Day in February, a single day built around starting conversations about mental health.
• Stress Awareness Month in April, which leads straight into Mental Health Awareness Week.
• Mental Health Awareness Month, the US observance for the whole of May, which is why American resources sometimes appear in UK searches.
• World Suicide Prevention Day, 10 September.

When is Mental Health Awareness Week 2027?

Mental Health Awareness Week 2027 runs from Monday 10 May to Sunday 16 May 2027. These dates are confirmed by the Mental Health Foundation on its official campaign page.

What is the Mental Health Awareness Week theme?

An applicable 2027 theme has not been verified in the organiser sources checked for this guide. The most recent theme, for the week of 11 to 17 May 2026, was Action: for yourself, for someone else, for all of us.

Is Mental Health Awareness Week the same as World Mental Health Day?

No. Mental Health Awareness Week is a UK campaign in May run by the Mental Health Foundation. World Mental Health Day is an international day on 10 October led by the World Federation for Mental Health. Many organisations mark both.

Who runs Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK?

The Mental Health Foundation, a UK charity, created the week in 2001 and still sets its dates, theme and official resources every year.

Is Mental Health Awareness Week a bank holiday?

No. It is an awareness campaign, not a public holiday, and it does not affect working days or school terms. The early May bank holiday usually falls the week before.

How can I take part in Mental Health Awareness Week?

Download the free supporter pack from the Mental Health Foundation, run a conversation or activity at work or school tied to the theme, share your own experience if you feel able to, or fundraise for the Foundation. Looking after your own wellbeing during the week counts too.

2027 dates checked 23 October 2026 against the Mental Health Foundation. Existing campaign-planning guidance retained.