FORMER HR DIRECTOR TO HOST 24-HOUR LIVESTREAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH CHARITY MIND DURING AWARENESS WEEK
LEADERSHIP, WELLBEING AND THE POWER OF SELF-KINDNESS TAKE CENTRE STAGE IN 24-HOUR EVENT
A former corporate HR director from Twickenham is preparing to host a 24-hour live broadcast bringing together leading authors, leadership coaches and wellbeing experts to explore how kindness and psychological resilience can reshape workplace culture.
Kim Stokes, founder of the coaching platform Kindness for Success, will lead the #24forKindness livestream from 11–12 May as part of UK Mental Health Awareness Week, raising funds for the mental health charity Mind while encouraging deeper conversations around burnout, self-kindness and sustainable leadership.
The event will almost double the duration of Stokes’ inaugural livestream in 2024, which ran for 15 hours and raised £2,000 for the charity. This year’s broadcast will run continuously for 24 hours and feature interviews, discussions and practical guidance from a range of recognised voices in leadership development, parenting, productivity and workplace wellbeing.
Among the contributors scheduled to appear are leadership coach and author Gifty Enright, parenting expert Anita Cleare, productivity specialist Graham Allcott, executive coach Julie Smith, and podcast host Zoe Blaskey. The line-up also includes feminist writer and podcast host Nicky Denson-Elliott and executive leadership consultant Lynn Blades.
Across the 24-hour programme, the discussions will focus on translating the concept of self-kindness into everyday professional practice, exploring how personal wellbeing influences leadership performance, and examining the relationship between mental health and organisational culture.
The broadcast will also address the distinction between self-kindness and traditional ideas of self-care, an issue Stokes believes remains misunderstood in many professional environments.
Stokes’ advocacy for mental wellbeing stems from her own experience of burnout during a senior corporate leadership career.
“I had climbed the ladder. On paper, I was successful. But I was exhausted, anxious, and at the bottom of my own priority list,” she says. “I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognise the woman staring back at me. I’d lost a stone because I wasn’t eating, and I was permanently exhausted. Self-kindness wasn’t something I practised; it was something I thought I’d ‘earn’ once everything else was done.”
Following redundancy, Stokes retrained and completed a Transformative Life Coaching Diploma before launching Kindness for Success, a coaching platform aimed primarily at supporting working mothers and senior professionals experiencing high levels of stress and competing responsibilities.
“I work predominantly with women who are giving everything to everyone else,” she explains. “We can’t be kind to others sustainably if we’re not kind to ourselves.”
Beyond individual wellbeing, Stokes argues that organisations are increasingly recognising the commercial and cultural importance of healthier working environments. As awareness of burnout rises across corporate sectors, leaders are beginning to examine how workplace structures and expectations contribute to mental strain.
The #24forKindness event aims to expand that conversation while also raising funds for mental health services.
“Mental health still carries stigma,” she says. “We talk openly about physical health, but mental well-being needs the same everyday attention. Self-kindness is not all bubble baths and spa days – it’s boundaries, rest, honest self-talk and redefining success on your own terms. It’s not about having it all, it’s flipping it to defining and living YOUR all.”
The livestream will run from 6am to midnight on 11 May, followed by a second session from 8am to 2pm on 12 May. Viewers will be able to register through Stokes’ website and participate throughout the event.
Alongside the livestream, Stokes continues to expand her work through corporate workshops, group coaching programmes and writing on leadership and parenting platforms. She also developed the Self-Kindness Matrix framework, designed to help professionals integrate personal wellbeing into long-term career sustainability.
As organisations increasingly grapple with the human cost of burnout and overwork, initiatives such as #24forKindness highlight a growing movement within business leadership to place mental wellbeing and compassionate management at the centre of modern workplace strategy.
