Natasha Garcha

Founder of Shop Mental Health

Natasha is the founder of Shop Mental Health, which is a start-up being created because of the experience that her Mum went through with her employer, when she began to display signs of serious mental health issues following an aggressive form of Cancer. Although Natasha's mum was diagnosed with limited insight into these mental health conditions, she was dismissed after almost 40 yrs of service. The very treatment she endured due to these mental health conditions, Natasha has vowed should not be suffered by any other person - and so she is working determinedly to set legal case precedence to protect the rights of individuals in the same position.

Through Shop Mental Health, Natasha is also collaborating with mental health SME's and with those directly experiencing everyday mental health conditions (such as anxiety, stress, depression) to produce a bespoke '#SMH hit the ground running' package, developed with a true understanding of what the end-user needs.

Vlogs and advice of her lived experience as a carer, as well as the employment tribunal process and legal aid process is also part of Shop Mental Health's offering. Her goal is to provide central end-to-end support to wider hard hitting questions e.g. how do I know if I have been discriminated against? or How do I, as a carer, prioritise my daily needs, as well as that who I am caring for. These are questions Natasha struggled to find honest answers to, for herself as a carer, but also on behalf of her Mum. This was because a platform with this lens didn't exist ... until now (!)