A MENSTON mum is launching a national mental health campaign to promote ‘the power of kindness’.

Tourism marketing professional and blogger Lyndsey Thomas has created Have a Heart to tie in with World Wellbeing Week (June 24 to June 28). The campaign will also, through the sale of yellow heart pins, raise funds for mental health charity MIND.

Lyndsey, 39, has herself struggled with anxiety since experiencing online bullying and high profile public criticism after tweeting details about her daughter’s birth in 2014.

Have a Heart is calling for women across the UK to consciously be more open about their emotions while committing to being kinder to each other.

Lyndsey has spoken out about mental health in the media on numerous occasions and her blog Girl About Yorkshire - which she has expanded into a national platform - includes true stories about women ‘who are struggling to be kind to themselves’.

She said: “I launched Have a Heart for a few reasons. One was personal having revisited my trolling story recently for Maternal Mental Health Week and it bringing it all back, just how hurtful people can be, then me realising the power of kindness and a friendly smile - and how my anxiety was either fuelled or fixed by the actions of others.

“I wanted to do something to celebrate the launch of my new Girl About platform that brings women together with something that makes an impact in the real world - as face to face interactions will always be stronger.

“I wanted us to all think about how we treat each other. Whether we stop and consider how others are feeling, or if we are just stuck in our own bubble. Do we realise that in not returning a smile at the school gates we are causing someone huge anxiety, or that in not saying ‘Hi’ we could seriously sabotage someone’s self-worth?

“These are little things we are all guilty of when rushing around, but let’s try to just make a conscious effort, particularly this week, to show we have a heart, and consciously be kinder to each other. The yellow hearts are simply symbols of this.”

She is asking for anyone who sees a woman with a yellow heart on her sleeve to make a conscious effort to interact with her positively, and hoping that yellow heart emojis with #haveaheart for #worldwellbeingweek, tagging @girlaboutblogsquad, will be shared online.

She added: “Women can be the most supportive friends ever but women can also be the cause of much heartache. and this is what I’m trying to address.”

More details about the campaign, and heart pins, are available from www.girlabout.co.uk .