Five Minutes With...bigmoose

What was the inspiration behind the creation of bigmoose, and can you tell us about the charity’s journey?

18 years ago, on March 1st, we lost my best friend, Gary ‘Moose’ Cloonan to cancer, at the age of 42. So, in memory of him, Chloe, my youngest daughter and I started showing acts of kindness, including volunteering at a soup kitchen for the homeless community.

After two years, this inspired us to open a coffee shop, with the intention of training and employing people that had experienced homelessness. This ignited our mission to help people with poor mental health, and so we launched a mental health charity, naming it bigmoose. To date, we have helped over 3,000 people and saved 87 people from suicide so far on this journey.

What is bigmoose’s main mission?

bigmoose’s main mission is to help people struggling with their mental health, by providing access to therapy, and early intervention.

How do you ensure that people who need support know where they can access bigmoose’s services?

We have a strong social media presence, we rely on word of mouth marketing, and host many fundraising events throughout the year, where we explain how easy it is to access our services.

How important is it for charities to partner with businesses who care for their employees’ well-being?

We are currently looking at partnering with businesses like Bisley, who care passionately about their team’s well-being, and allow us to help provide support.

Can you tell us a little bit about each member of the bigmoose team?

At this moment, we have seven team members and 35 therapists. Some members of the team manage the therapists and referrals while others organise fundraising activities, such as events, individual fundraisers, grant applications, and searching for billionaire philanthropists, I kid you not!

How do you support your team and volunteers with their own well-being?

We support our team by encouraging and providing budget for personal development, such as books, upskilling courses, gym and private medical memberships. We provide each team member with an external mentor, and we also have regular one-to-ones and always actively encourage open dialogues.

How can the community support bigmoose?

The community, including Bisley, can support us by encouraging people to reach out if they need support.

To mark the start of our exciting partnership, we are proud to partake in the bigmoose Ultra Fun Run, which takes place on Sunday, 13th April in Bute Park, Cardiff. To sign up, click here and select team Bisley to support this great cause. You can also donate via the JustGiving page which can be accessed here.