Feature : Six Connections Feature : xxxxxx
How one conversation about mental health can start a chain reaction...
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Henry, starting the conversation even before he can speak...
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ave Scholes, founder of Burnley’s Six Connections, was looking surprisingly perky when we met in Towneley Park considering he’d recently become a new dad to his baby boy Henry. “He’s doing really well, he’s a great sleeper actually and my wife Gemma is doing amazing. But when you love what I do for work like I do, it’s easy to have that energy,” Dave said. It’s important work; Dave is founder of Six Connections, a community which believes that if one person has conversations with six friends, colleagues or even strangers about how they are feeling, and they each went on to have six conversations and so on, the world would be a healthier and better place. Dave launched Six Connections after his friend Ian sadly took his own life in 2011. Dave struggled to talk about his emotions, but realised how a simply chat over a brew or beer was helpful. The pandemic shone the spotlight on mental health and in 2020, Dave launched Roast & Toast, a safe space where people could share their challenges. It took off and soon Dave launched a range of Six Connections products with a QR code on which took people to a page of useful information. Dave originally wanted to address the imbalance of men speaking up about mental health and sales of beer, coffee and biscuits took off. But of course, the conversation is for everyone.