A community pharmacy in Bristol is supporting an initiative to help the local community to ‘walk, run or talk’ to improve wellbeing, and is encouraging pharmacy team members and other healthcare professionals to also take part.
Simon Harris, owner of Cadbury Heath Pharmacy, is working with Bristol-based personal trainer Chris Ritchens, founder of the GY30 initiative, to encourage participants to ‘Give Yourself 30' minutes a day to focus on wellbeing and mental health.
The programme was founded January and has been gaining momentum on social media.
Harris, who is also a PCN lead, said: “The idea is to give yourself 30 minutes every day to try and just concentrate on you and your general wellbeing.”
A weekly event held on Fridays starts and ends at a local gin distillery, where people choose to ‘run, walk or talk’, depending on how active they want to be. Some people simply sit and have a conversation, while others might run 5k.
The pharmacy has been encouraging patients - such as those taking antidepressants - members of the pharmacy team, and healthcare professionals from other pharmacies and GP practices in the area to take part.
The weekly event brings together patients, pharmacy team members, and local GP surgery staff “in a relaxed and inclusive environment,” Harris said.
200th run for GY30
Ritchens, who launched GY30 in January 2026, has been running least 5k every single day to promote the movement, and show people how important exercise is for wellbeing.
He is planning his 200th run on 17 July.
Cadbury Heath Pharmacy is a sponsor for the GY30 200th event and has had T-shirts printed up for participants on the day.
“As healthcare professionals, we see first-hand the impact of mental health challenges. Supporting GY30 allows us to go beyond the dispensary and be part of a proactive, positive solution within our community,” Harris said.
The pharmacy has put together a team to take part. With independent pharmacy teams very busy and sometimes isolated, Harris has a vision for the potential of the GY30 initiative to further improve and support wellbeing in pharmacy teams.
“What I'm trying to do as well is to see if there's a way for a pharmacy ‘Give Yourself 30’ to be a bit more widespread, so that we can all take a second.”
Benefits for wellbeing
After personal battles with mental health issues, including depression and suicidal thoughts, Richens said that he found gym and exercise helped to improve his mood, and then decided to become a personal trainer to help others.
He started up a challenge to run 5km every day and film it while talking about mental health. The initial response was positive, with about 20 people joining him in the first week.
“It gives you that confidence to move a little bit more with people around you that are like-minded; who want to kind of improve themselves,” he said.
He reached out to more people and GY30 took shape, offering a range of activity that is accessible to everyone, including people of all fitness levels, older people, and parents and children.
To date, he said, average weekly attendance has been around 50 people, with the last two weeks seeing 92 and 82 people.
“GY30 is about making wellbeing accessible. You don’t need a gym or a strict plan – just 30 minutes to move, connect, and reset. The support from Cadbury Heath Pharmacy has been instrumental in bringing the community together.”
Social media has been important in getting the project moving. “We started the year off with about 350 followers – we're over 1,500 now, and most of them are really engaged through messages, comments, likes and shares.
Reaching young people has been a highlight for the project, he said.
“Having parents within their kids come along, that's a real big point for us. We want to teach the youth coming up through schools, clubs or parents, that this is really important: ‘Just go for a walk; get off your iPad’”.
