Johnny's Happy Place (JHP) is a weekend community hub/café within Keystone's building in Kettering.  JHP is a sanctuary for many people who are, for one reason or another, having a tough time; they may suffer from anxiety, depression or just feel isolated.  Johnny's Happy Place is open to everyone: old, young, rich, poor, good mental health, poor mental health, and the team behind JHP wants to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.

JHP is named after Johnny Mackay, a young, funny, talented, kind, compassionate and wonderful human being, who sadly took his own life on 23rd October 2014.  Johnny had become more and more troubled, would often run away from home, had many addictions and undiagnosed mental health problems. The family and friends of Johnny feel it is important to acknowledge the dark place he and they went to for the latter half of 2014, but equally want to remember him as he was for most of his life.  Johnny often talked about setting up his own "Happy News" TV channel. 

Hating all of the awful things going on in the world, Johnny thought we would benefit from having a channel dedicated to happiness.  This became the inspiration for JHP and has now become Johnny’s legacy. The main café space has lots of brightly coloured tables and chairs, and there are always homemade cakes, soft drinks and some homemade dishes on offer. 

The area is run by volunteers and everything on offer is on a suggested donations basis; if you have no money they will still feed you.  JHP offers a welcoming space, where people can come and sit for a few hours and read a book, maybe make something arty, have some food and a cup of tea, meet new people and hopefully smile and maybe have a laugh. 

All of the JHP volunteers are caring and considerate people and although none of them are healthcare professionals they are human beings with hearts and sometimes that is all someone needs: someone to talk to who can listen and who can empathise. Johnny’s Happy Place is open on Saturdays from 10am to 4pm and Sundays from 11am to 2pm.

Johnny’s Happy Place,  Keystone, 97 Rockingham Road,  Kettering, NN16 9HX

www.johnnyshappyplace.com 

Johnny’s Happy Place