Luxury pushchair and nursery goods manufacturer iCandy has partnered with perinatal charity The PANDAS Foundation to help in its work providing free mental health support for parents, carers and their networks.
The charity encourages parents and carers to get in touch when they feel something may not be right with their mental health. No diagnosis is necessary and PANDAS is keen to enforce the message that early intervention is key, so seeking out its services as soon as possible is encouraged.
PANDAS provides support via many free services including WhatsApp, email, a bookable call service and many online and offline peer to peer support groups in the UK. The charity supports over 10,000 parents and carers every year, with demand for its services constantly growing.
Bradley Appel, joint ceo of iCandy, commented: “We’re honoured to partner with The PANDAS Foundation, an organisation that plays an essential role in supporting the mental wellbeing of parents and carers. At iCandy, we believe every family member deserves compassion, care and understanding, and we’re proud to contribute to making these critical resources more accessible. Together with PANDAS, we hope to help break down the stigma surrounding mental health for parents and carers, particularly for fathers, so that no one feels alone on their journey.”
iCandy’s partnership officially launched on International Men’s Day (19 November). According to the Institute of Health Visiting (2021), approximately 10% of fathers experience perinatal mental illness, and 25–50% of fathers will experience perinatal anxiety or depression when the mother also has a perinatal mental illness. PANDAS is keen to encourage more men to use its services and seek the mental health support they need and deserve.
Annie Belasco, ceo at PANDAS, commented: “We are delighted to be working with the wonderful iCandy as a business partnership. From the early stages of meeting the team we know that they have a person-centred and heartfelt approach to their customers. As a partnership, we hope to offer an alignment and a breath of fresh air to the public, making their parental journey less daunting, and spread more awareness and understanding to ensure that parents, careers and networks feel less alone.”
iCandy’s support will enable PANDAS to grow its support services even further, to better support more parents, carers and their networks than ever before.
To find out more, visit www.pandasfoundation.org.uk.
