Layla Brace founded Break the Stigma, based in Pembroke Dock, in January 2020 following a 6 year long battle with mental health. The idea behind it, as the Facebook Page states is to ‘crack the stigma (around mental health) with a small community group.’
Layla says of the group’s beginnings,
“Although working 2 jobs, I found myself still so lonely and staring at the walls. So I made the group with the thought of helping others in the same position.”
Although Break the Stigma is based in Pembroke Dock, everyone is welcome and Layla says they now have over 2000 followers and have raised over £6000 for various charities and causes in the last 6 months, including Give the Boys a Lift, Pembroke Dock Girl Guides, a local girl suffering from Cancer and a local park which needed repainting.
They meet regularly on Wednesdays 1.30pm- 3pm at Pennar Hall for refreshments and a chat (free but donations welcome), although meetings have been postponed during lockdown and hope to continue soon.
Layla runs the group single handedly and says she is pleased with the reaction Break the Stigma has received,
“I have a lot of people tell me how much the group is needed in the area and hopefully can keep helping people too.”
Layla has promoted the group and given back to her local community by becoming involved in small town projects such as painting a bench in Front Street with the group logo and also painting areas of Pennar Park. She has been involved with lots of fundraising, organising raffles, quizzes, and a family Easter Egg hunt during lockdown. A charity Bingo outdoor event in July, raised £800 for several charities.
Earlier this month, Layla was presented with the ‘Lockdown’ award from Pembroke Dock Town Council, in recognition of going above and beyond during Covid 19 to help the local community.
Layla promises there is plenty more to come and notes that she is just grateful to be in a position to help others,
“When I was at my worst there was nothing, I waited months for a counselling session, some people cannot physically wait that long, it’s absolutely soul destroying. So to have a little support as a drop in group locally is key to helping people as much as possible and point them in the direction of faster help too.”
If you’d like to benefit from the activities Break the Stigma organises, visit the Facebook group to get involved.
