In 2019 there was a small improvement in average happiness ratings increasing from 7.52 to 7.56. This shows people are becoming increasingly aware about the importance of putting their happiness first and living a happy life, however, the very slight increase highlights there are still many people who may need support.
Happiness is defined differently for everyone and to further highlight the importance of happiness, the United Nations developed International Day of Happiness taking place on 20th March, ensuring as many people as possible are aware about the importance of looking after their physical and mental wellbeing.
Feeling Happy
International Day of Happiness is a national initiative coordinated by Action for Happiness, a non-profit movement of people from 160 countries and supported by a partnership of like-minded organisations, turning happiness into a global celebration.
It was developed because it was recognised by the UN General Assembly that happiness is fundamental to our lives and they wanted to promote the happiness and wellbeing of all.
Ensuring the message is as diverse as possible the campaign has a different theme each year. For 2020 the theme is Happiness Together focusing on what we all have in common, rather than what divides us.
How can we help boost your happiness?
Perhaps happiness for you is achieved through connecting to the local community, joining a social group or activity or maybe it’s helping others through volunteering. Whatever it is, we can help you by joining you up with various local organisations, groups and services that could support your wellbeing.
If you know that integrating with the community is the way to improve your happiness, yet you require support to increase your confidence to do this, we have a selection of projects that can help. These projects are:
- Welcome to Volunteering – this helps anyone who feels they need extra support to take up and sustain volunteering roles
- Welcome Buddies – this pairs individuals overcoming mental ill-health with volunteer buddies from the community who help those gain confidence to get involved with activities
- Social Prescribing – at VASWS we host social prescribing link workers who work with individuals that may be lonely, isolated, anxious, or lacking in confidence to identify what makes them happy, then connecting them to support and activities that could help improve their lifestyle and situation.
Here at VASWS there is an abundance of help available and we also have a database with an extensive list of other local services and organisations that we could signpost you to, who may be able to help.
Call us on 01483 565456 to find out how we can help, or email communitypoint@vasws.org.uk
Let’s help each other to feel happy, not just on International Happiness Day – everyday!