Psychologist Emma Hepburn has been busy helping people around the globe stay calm during the pandemic.
Her colourful illustrations on Instagram have been teaching people how to achieve happiness and how to cope with difficult emotions.
Now she has designed a calendar for Mental Health Aberdeen (MHA) to help raise money for the charity.
And the images most popular with her 127,000 Instagram followers will also decorate the counselling rooms of the charity’s new office.
We are just a small local charity, and to receive this kind of support from someone like Emma who has a global following, is just incredible.
Graeme Kinghorn, chief executive of Mental Health Aberdeen.
‘I hope the calendars help people’
“It’s been really exciting to work on the calendar and see it come together to raise money to support people locally,” Emma said.
“The last two years have been challenging for mental health and it’s vital to ensure that people can access the help they need when they need it.
“However, I also hope that the calendar itself can help support people’s mental health, as they can use the illustrations throughout the year to think about strategies for looking after their wellbeing on a daily basis.”
Emma started sharing her drawings on social media after realising how much they helped break down complex information on how the brain works to her clients.
The Aberdeen mum has also written a free book to help people who’ve been struggling to cope during the Covid-19 crisis.
The first run of calendars have been printed this week. They cost £10 each, which includes the postage, and can be ordered from the charity.
All the proceeds from sales will go towards the free adult and child counselling services run by Mental Health Aberdeen across the north-east.
The charity recently moved into new premises on Union Street, in the heart of the city.
‘The number of people who urgently need our help continues to rise’
Chief executive Graeme Kinghorn said: “We are hugely grateful to Emma for the gift of 12 of her illustrations to use in both our first fundraising calendar, and also to hang on the wall as prints around our new offices.
“We use Emma’s designs on our social media channels to give professional advice and comfort to our followers, so when Emma suggested working on a calendar together, we were completely blown away.
“We are just a small local charity, and to receive this kind of support from someone like Emma who has a global following, is just incredible.
“The number of people who urgently need our help continues to rise, and the ongoing uncertainty as a result of Covid-19 is amplifying this, so we are extremely grateful to everyone who helps us raise awareness of the work we do.”
The charity also worked with Mearns & Gill and design business XIC to create the calendars, which can be purchased by emailing fundraiser@mhaberdeen.org.uk
It plans to post as many as it can by the end of December 23, and will continue selling them in January.
MHA’s counselling services are closed from December 23 to January 5, but 24-hour help can be accessed by calling Samaritans on 116 123, or Childline on 0800 1111.
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