Wednesday the 4th November 2026 is National Stress Awareness Day, here at Joy we understand the affects stress can have on everyday life and how important it is to maintain our own mental wellbeing. This can be hard to embed within our daily lives, with work, weekends, family, pets and the cost of living also amping up pressure, choosing time for yourself and managing stress might not feel as accessible as we would like.

The campaign focuses on building supportive working cultures, reducing the stigma around mental health, and encouraging open conversations between employers, staff and beyond; destigmatising each conversation with stress reduction in mind. At Joy we are evolving to meet the needs of our community through physical, creative and social support that is rooted throughout Joy’s collaborative space, between our colourful workspaces, sociable café and regular yoga sessions we have something for everyone.

Physical Support

Yoga as a practice has been proved to support emotional and nervous system regulation and reduce rumination. At Joy we offer regular yoga sessions peppered throughout the week alongside sound baths and movement sessions that create an inner calm. The sessions are run by Inner Bliss Wellbeing CIC, who specialise in tailored experiences with movement and inclusivity at its heart. Grace Pennington, the founder of Inner Bliss would like to encourage everyone to try yoga for their mental health:

“I’m a big believer yoga starts on the mat and it ripples into our everyday lives off the mat”

As a practice it can help produce calmness when life feels like a storm. Grace’s yoga and sound bath sessions happen every week, and are PWYC (Pay What You Can), keeping it financially accessible to all – one less stress to worry about.

Creative Support

Support being creatively engaging in new ways can help destigmatise the process of accessing and experiencing support. Two of our organizations based in Joy creatively support different members of the community in this way; Quirky CIC and The Positivitree.

Quirky CIC is a local not-for-profit company that uses recycled or recyclable materials and paints and runs creative workshops in schools, community centres and festivals. They create therapeutic moments for young people and families and encourage creativity as a means to reduce stress while connecting with others. To find out more head to Quirky CIC’s website.

The Positivitree CIC works to improve the mental wellbeing of families with children who have additional health or care needs in its broadest sense. Positivitree offers everyday support that takes various forms to act as ‘lifelines’ that can help the wellbeing of families such as term-time groups in local cafes and Family Hubs, plus inclusive ‘Stay and Play’ sessions during school holidays. They also create programmes that encourage creativity outside of their hubs and out in nature, such as their foraging and drawing group, reconnecting with others outside of our routines can also create a new perspective and create an outlet for stress. To find out more about Positivitree’s programmes, head to their website.

Social Support

From the café space facilitating social support groups like ‘Zoop’, ‘Still Here’ and the ‘Death Cafe’ and mental health support available through Open Door, social support is embedded within Joy.

Open Door offers Bazaar, an 8 session mental health support programme for 14 – 35 year olds, blending cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) principles, mindfulness, habit alteration, and positive psychology. Utilising a peer-mentor model to encourage  people to talk about stress and create self awareness and strategies to help with anxiety, low-mood and depression. To learn more head to Open Door’s website to access a variety of support.

Joy’s café space acts as a hub for talking, connecting, and finding support; our café staff are trained in signposting and act as the entry point for a lot of the public engaging with the organisations based here.

Stress plays a role in everyone’s life, often ebbing and flowing, it can impact us in unique ways and at times become overwhelming. We hope that accessing support, taking a leap into self-care, talking to someone and sharing can help build resilience and choose time for yourself. To book onto any of Joy’s support head to our What’s On page.