THE start of Mental Health Week in Bunbury was kicked off with a mob of flash dancers strutting their stuff to some feel good tunes.
The dancers took over the courtyard outside Centrepoint Shopping in front of Coffee Club at 11am on Wednesday, October 7.
The Mental Health Week committee came up with the idea to have a flash mob and committee member Melody Birrell said once they had a team of dancers together they got the Helen Goff Dance School involved to help choreograph the dance.
She said they chose three songs that made them feel joyful and the idea was that once every year the community can get together and have four and a half minutes of fun.
“Whenever we do something in the community there is always some exclusivity to it, so we wanted this flash mob to be completely inclusive of everyone in the community,” Ms Birrell said.
“We didn’t make it too secret, we had a Flash Mob Facebook page and the whole idea is about people having a bit of joy in life.
“We got a DJ involved who volunteered his time, we had support from the RSL and other not-for-profits in the area to get their clients and staff involved in the dance.”
She said it was rewarding seeing people out in the community have fun because dancing makes people happy, including those who watch it.
The message behind Mental Health Week in Bunbury this year is to be active, belong to your community and make commitments to the activities you engage in, Personal Helpers and Mentors program manager Jerry Caruana said.
“Mental health week is about promoting positive mental health and we want to show the community that there is a whole bunch of activities that people can do to have fun and enjoy themselves,” Mr Caruana said.
“This is an example of doing something that is fun, exciting and it does stimulate positive mental health.
“We invest in our physical health but we need to look after our mental health and the more things that we can be involved with is better, people just need to take the step and go and do it.