The Shree Swaminarayan Mandir temple in Oldham has announced it is hosting a wellbeing event to challenge mental health stigmas in South Asian communities.

The gathering has been organised by the temple’s Yuvak Mandal youth group, which is committed to serving the community.

The Yuvak Mandal has organised a dedicated session in partnership with local wellbeing charities in an effort to address mental health concerns amongst the temple’s congregation.

Devisha Vekria, a member of the Yuvak Mandal committee, said: “It’s so important to address mental health within our community and emphasise the need for accessible support networks.

I have seen first-hand how mental health stigma can affect us, especially in older generations. I live with three generations of my family and I’m really aware of how my granddad doesn’t talk about his feelings and keeps everything bottled up.

Things are changing and improving slowly but there are a lot of families who face difficulties and don’t know where to turn. We wanted to do something to help educate the community about what support is available to them.”

The event is set to take place at Shree Swaminarayan Mandir on Saturday, February 24 at 7pm and will feature guest speaker Madhubhen Thaker, the founder of Anmol Cancer Support Group and a volunteer at the Tameside, Oldham and Glossop (TOG) branch of Mind, a leading mental health charity.

Karen Hughes, a representative from TOG Mind, said: “TOG Mind strives to enable everyone in our communities to achieve better mental health.

We actively seek to provide awareness to the public and groups through our new Mental Health Awareness sessions, aiming to tackle the stigma around mental health, and promote ways to wellbeing. We are proud to be working with the community of the Oldham Temple.”