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Join us as we mark University Mental Health Day by highlighting all the great work going on at UWS to support student wellbeing. 

This year we’re promoting awareness of mental health through the ‘Five ways to wellbeing’ and the whole university mental health framework which empower all members of the university community to be active in supporting student mental health.

University Mental Health Day 2021

Take notice – Sign up for a personal development workshop. These wellbeing workshops, designed and delivered by the University counselling team, can lead to heightened self-awareness, which in turn helps you make positive choices based on your own values and motivations. In this week’s session you’ll learn how to get a good night’s sleep and next week the session will focus on taking the ‘alone’ out of ‘loneliness’. Click here to find out more about the Wellbeing Wednesday programme of workshops free to UWS students.

Connect - Check out the Students’ Union ‘what’s on’ pages which are packed full of virtual events, activities and societies you can get involved with.  Why not learn more about bee-keeping or get involved in the Students’ Union elections. Social relationships are critical for promoting wellbeing and for acting as a buffer against mental ill health for people of all ages.  Click here to find out more about the Students’ Union activities and events.

Be active – Join the UWS active community and take part in online classes live on Playwaze or any time on YouTube. Classes are completely FREE, they run every day Monday to Friday at 12 noon and 4pm and are led by our fully qualified gym teams who can provide guidance and motivation. You can find out more by visiting the UWS Active Community webpage, sign up to book your first live fitness class or watch later on the UWS active YouTube channel. 

Learn – Whether it is reading for fun or personal development our ‘reading for wellbeing’ selection probably has something for you. We’ve recently added lots of new e-books to the University collection meaning that these books can be accessed anywhere.

Our top picks are:

  • Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world (by Mark Williams and Danny Penman)

  • Resilience: how to cope when everything around you keeps changing (by Liggy Webb.

Find out more here

Give – Are you passionate about promoting student mental health and wellbeing? Interested in shaping the future of student mental health support at UWS? Then why not find out more about joining the UWS Student Mental Health Advisory Group. The group will meet monthly and will provide members with opportunities to develop new skills and confidence, while also ensuring that that the student voice is a key part of student mental health support. Click here to find out more and apply to be a member of the student mental health advisory group.

 

Special event - Cook-Along Session for UWS students

Learn to cook delicious lentil soup with freshly baked bread rolls direct from your own kitchen, during this Zoom cook-along on Uni Mental Health Day.

What we eat and how we nourish ourselves can have a big impact on how we feel in our bodies and our minds. That is why for this year’s Uni Mental Health Day the UWS Counselling and Wellbeing Service wants to invite you for a delicious cook-along to connect, cook together, chat and nourish your bodies and minds! This interactive cooking session will be delivered by Liv, who is a cookery teacher and community worker who loves working with people to make tasty and nutritious meals using affordable everyday ingredients. For this event, we will be cooking a delicious and nutritious lentil soup and will get hands-on making our own bread rolls to go along with it.

Click on this link to sign up for the event on Eventbrite

 

Postgraduate student events

Coffee chats: These are monthly informal online get-togethers and a chance to “meet” other PGRs, exchange experiences and find out more about other support and resources. To take part please join the UWS PGR Forum on Microsoft Teams.

Power Hour of Writing: Hosted by UWS Academy twice a week, these sessions are aimed at staff but open to PGRs. The main aim is to protect some time for any activity you would like to do e.g. writing, reading, planning – the group adds accountability and a social aspect as you never know who else will be there. At the moment we meet on Wed 9:50-11:10 and Fri 14:50-16:10. The sessions on Friday are followed by a crafternoon social – where we do a crafting activity while we chat with each other. Join the AcWri Team on Microsoft Teams to get invites to the sessions. To find out more watch our overview video.

 

STAFF WELLBEING

As part of University Mental Health Day we would encourage all staff to take to time to think about and acknowledge your own mental wellbeing. We know that it is extremely important to look after our mental health as much as our physical health.

On University Mental Health Day the University is working with and encouraging our students to keep a check on their own mental wellbeing through a variety of resources, by keeping in touch with family, friends and fellow students and by eating healthily and getting exercise.  So too, we would encourage all staff to utilise the following resources:

In addition to the above, University staff are able to utilise a variety of resources, details of which can be accessed via the Staff Hub (staff log-in only).

We would also encourage staff to use the #unimentalhealthday to share any of your own self-care tips.