Where it all began...
2020 was the year in which Messages of Hope was created. Bethan was twenty years old and had been struggling with her mental health for a long time. Beth was extremely passionate about mental health advocacy and desperately wanted to think of a way to give hope to others. At this point in her mental health journey, Bethan had not yet been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder but the symptoms of this illness were beginning to seep into her life.
Beth had just moved home to South Wales after dropping out of her second year of university because Bethan's mental health was severly impacting her studies, when the idea of Messages of Hope came to her.
In 2020 Bethan collected 200 messages in a week. She then displayed all of these messages on a mural that she created in her kitchen, recorded a video of herself creating the mural and tried to share as many of the messages as possible.
Bethan was determined to show everyone that was struggling how many strangers cared about them. She needed people to know that so many people cared about them.
Reading all of the message submissions, it was truly incredible and inspiring. People had written about their circumstances and struggles, they provided signposting information, and they wrote their favourite quotes, books, films and TV shows that have helped them through difficult times, practical advice, and words of support, love, and wisdom.
It was became clear that not only was this campaign giving hope to people who needed it most, but it was also giving a voice to people who just wanted to be heard.
In addition to all of the messages that were collected, Bethan also gave everyone an opportunity to submit a video of themselves, which would allow them to be featured in the campaign video.