Darlaston Town Child Welfare Officer Nicola Waite says “Thanks to my day job and the fact I sit on a number of health and community partnership boards through Walsall together I was able to develop an idea to get people out into green spaces and the community to improve mental health and wellbeing”.

The idea was simple getting people who are lonely or isolated together to paint the kindness rocks, seeing them connect to others and enjoy the craft activity so we could talk to them about what being lonely or isolated means to them.

We then sent and hid the rocks across the borough in 7 parks which are

Walsall Arboretum - Lichfield Street, Walsall, WS4 2BU
King George Park Bloxwich - Stafford Road, Bloxwich, Walsall, WS3 3NJ
Victoria Park Darlaston - Victoria Road, Darlaston, Wednesbury WS10 8AB
Palfrey Park Walsall - Dale Street, Palfrey, WS1 4AN
Pelsall Common - Church Road, Pelsall, WS3 4EN
Brownhills Common - The Parade, Brownhills, Walsall WS8 7NG

A 1000 rocks was the target across Walsall Housing Group and other Community Associations and I know we did so many more than that. A real community effort in which Darlaston Town Hall were a part of as well as Rough Hay Community Centre

This coming week is Loneliness and Isolation Week and post COVID it's never been more important to have a toolkit of how to improve our physical and mental health. Taking a short walk, trying a new activity, supporting your local football team, eating healthy, listening to music, getting a coffee with a friend, painting a rock, calling a friend on the phone.

Having connections is so important. For a club who is a Community Club we understand how some people rely on community organisations like ours for socialising and having an outlet outside of the home.

Some of our fans only leave the house for shopping and to come to a game so its really important that initiatives like this raise the subject and allows others to have those important conversations.

We urge everyone to either paint their own rocks and take them to the trail locations or head out and have a walk with family and friends and see how many you can spot.
Please use the #kindnessrockswalsall hashtags to let us know what you found..
The link for more information about the Kindness Rocks Hunt please click Want to Go on a Rock Hunt