Happy Cafe founder receives award
19 Mar 2019 | Action for Happiness
Action for Happiness supporter Stan Rosenthal has
received a special award from the Prime Minister for founding the
Happy Cafe network.
Stan Rosenthal founded the UK's first 'Happy Café' in
Brighton in 2014 to allow people to connect over a cup of
coffee and learn skills for enhancing their psychological
wellbeing.
A retired civil servant, Stan's longstanding interest in
wellbeing research led him to volunteer for his local Action for Happiness branch, dedicated to
spreading happiness in the community based on the latest scientific
research into the subject.
With the help of the national organisation which now has over 1
million followers world-wide, Stan developed the concept of
encouraging a local café or cafes in workplaces and a variety of
public establishments, to designate themselves as a Happy Café,
actively promoting wellbeing by holding regular talks and events,
building community networks, creating dedicated spaces for
mindfulness, and sharing information on personal development.
Following the successful launch of the first café in Brighton,
Stan developed a toolkit for other branches to set themselves up as
a Happy Café
and has since supported the roll-out of more than 100 Happy Cafés
across the UK and internationally.
Stan has now been recognised with a Prime Minister's award for his inspirational
voluntary work pioneering the concept of Happy Cafes.
In a personal letter to Stan, Prime Minister Theresa
May said:
"By pioneering the concept of 'Happy Cafés', you have
created a simple and effective way for people to improve their
wellbeing and connect with members of their community. Your
commitment to helping others develop happier lives is remarkable,
and you should feel very proud of the difference 'Happy Cafés' are
making to people across the country."
After receiving his award, Stan said:
"Absolutely delighted that the Happy Cafe concept and
the wonderful Action for Happiness movement behind it have been
officially acknowledged in this way. And on the eve of the
International Day of Happiness too!"