The CBD brand and comedy favourite helping tackle mental health

A Cumbrian CBD company has teamed up with Geordie comedian Kai Humphries to start a conversation about mental health.  

The founder of Lakeland CBD, Nic Hewitt, reached out to comedian Kai Humphries after discovering his podcasts during the coronavirus pandemic.

The comedian, known for his relatable, situational comedy, has racked up a huge fanbase following his recent tours supporting Netflix superstar Daniel Sloss.

He is famously not afraid to broach topics such as his cannabis use and personal experience with mental health issues.

Nic, who set up Lakeland CBD with her school friend Luke Woodend in 2018, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder at the age of 15.

She says Kai’s podcast and Instagram live streams Knitting with Kai – launched to encourage people to look after their mental health during lockdown – helped her feel less alone.

“I had his podcasts on in the background while I was working from home and I really resonated with everything he was saying about taking care of your mental health being a priority, making time for yourself and having a hobby or something nice to focus on. I even took up knitting because of his tutorials,” said Nic.

“It was nice to listen to someone in the public eye talking about mental health.

“I’ve hidden my disease since I was 15, nobody understood it and nobody wanted to understand it, but now we’re in a position where people like Kai are talking about it in the public eye.”

Nic continued: “By listening to the podcast I suddenly realised that I’m not the only person in the world, it happens to everybody.

“It’s totally changed the way I think about my illness.”

Nic started talking CBD to help manage the symptoms of her mental health conditions over two years ago.

It led to her launching Lakeland CBD, now a trusted brand in the county and the rest of the UK.

On a whim, she reached out to Kai on Instagram and asked him if he would be interested in working together.

“Kai openly talks about his own mental health and his cannabis use and he isn’t afraid of judgement or discrimination around it.

“With Lakeland CBD we are constantly trying to break down the barriers and stigma surrounding the use of cannabis, so it just seemed like a perfect opportunity to collaborate,” she said.

“I never in a million years thought I’d hear back from him.”

Lakeland CBD is now supplying equipment for Kai’s live streams, while he talks about the brand and the benefits of CBD to his followers – Nic has even sent him some capsules to help with his own mental health.

The comedian said: “I’m delighted to team up with Lakeland CBD. Their commitment to mental health solutions and their community engagement is exactly the ethic we strive to achieve on my channels.

“Merging our communities and sharing our ideas going forward is a perfect fit.”