Shawmind Updates

Mental health charity Shawmind have announced a charity partnership with global workplace wellbeing company Wellity Global.

Shawmind is a charity on a mission to improve mental health awareness. They are committed to educating individuals and organisations so they understand mental health and emotional wellbeing, and how to manage them effectively to lead successful, fulfilled lives.

In 2017 Shawmind raised 103,000 signatures during their initial Headucation campaign for a parliamentary debate which led to compulsory mental health education in schools. This hugely successful campaign firmly established Shawmind as a champion of mental health in the UK, despite being a fledgling charity.

Following on from their 2017 Headucation campaign, Shawmind is now focusing their energy on improving children’s mental health by ensuring teachers are equipped to understand mental health and support their pupils more effectively to deal with it.

Wellity Global have agreed to support Shawmind and their Headucation campaign, becoming a key partner in promoting and delivering Headucation.

Wellity Global CEO Simon Scott-Nelson explains: “75% of diagnosable mental health conditions are present before the age of eighteen. We really believe that to help make a real difference across society, early intervention and support is critical. This has to start with educating teachers in how to recognise the signs of concern and then act.”

Shawmind are mobilizing corporate sponsors and individuals to help bring about a transformation in the mental health of the next generation: working with local educational authorities and partner organisations to bring a whole-school approach to mental health, helping schools to develop a culture shift towards sustainable better mental health and wellbeing – fully funded to the schools.

Wellity Global is a company specialising in improving employee mental health and wellbeing which will be utilised to improve the workplace culture of schools as part of the whole-school approach.

Wellity Global COO Sadie Restorick MSc MABP notes: “Every day we work with organisations to help tackle stigma and create working cultures where people can talk openly about their mental health. The earlier we can start in normalising the conversation around wellbeing, the better. This means targeting the younger generation and training those around them, such as teachers and support staff.”

Shawmind CEO Peter Wingrove expresses his appreciation: “We are immensely grateful to Simon, Sadie and the rest of the Wellity team for their support of our charity and their commitment to promoting the Headucation cause. Making sure that the next generation is not failed in terms of their mental health and wellbeing is at the core of the Headucation project and with Wellity’s help we can encourage other organisations to join in our plan to train all teachers in basic mental health awareness.”

Visit shawmind.org/headucation for more information. For further queries about Headucation, mental health support in schools or organisations, please contact peter.wingrove@shawmind.org or simon.scott-nelson@wellityglobal.com

Here at Shawmind we have lots of exciting events happening both in person and online between now and the end of 2020.

Here, our Project Coordinator, Hannah gives you the lowdown of what’s what, when, where, and how you can get involved!

Mindful Meander

Mindful Meander is a walking group based in Newark-on-Trent.

During lockdown, we received a number of calls for support from people feeling overwhelmingly isolated and lonely.

As restrictions eased, we launched a group that meets up for a wander round the local area, having friendly conversations and a bit of a laugh!

It’s great for meeting new people, finding support, and discussing any worries or concerns you have as the world begins to return to some form of normality.

All walks adhere to social distancing guidelines. Full details of what to bring with you can be found here.

When and where is it?

Groups meet up regularly during the week in Newark. Children and social dogs are welcome too!* (*at your own risk. We ask that pet owners take full responsibility for their animals whilst on the walk and Shawmind will not take any liability for injury caused to others or your pet during the course of the walk).

Sign me up!

If you want to come along to our Mindful Meander, please check out the next available date and register here.

ManCave

ManCave is a monthly meet-up where men can come along and meet other guys who have or have previously experienced mental ill health.

It’s a great place to meet new people, open up about what’s going on in your mind and find help and support.

We also have a great guest speaker each month, who will talk openly about their struggles and how they’ve managed and overcome them. These guest speakers are often happy to answer any of your questions and have a chat to.

ManCave is usually held at The Turquoise Teapot in Newark, however, owing to COVID19 we have moved it online via Zoom, which means you can join in wherever you are in the world.

ManCave runs on the middle Wednesday of the month. Click here to register your free place.

Breathe Café

Our Breathe Cafés are hubs where people can come along and have a chilled-out coffee and a chat.

Our team are on hand to discuss any issues you may be having with your mental health, and signpost you to appropriate guidance and support.

The Breathe Café’s are also a great way to meet other people who understand your feelings, and provide a relaxed, social environment. We also offer the “breakout room” facility too, so if you want to discuss something with one of our volunteers in confidence, let them know and you can zoom into the virtual meeting room.

When and where is it?

Pre-COVID19, our cafes ran locally in and around Newark, however, since then we have moved them online via Zoom, which means that you can now access support wherever you are in the country, from the comfort of your own home.

Sign me up!

Join the conversation, find support and meet new people at our Breathe Café, click here to register.

World Suicide Prevention Day

On Thursday 10^th September 2020, we hosted FREE online Suicide Awareness Training for all, which was hosted on Zoom and Facebook LIVE.

Lasting just an hour, the session was short yet extremely informative and provided lots of information on how to spot signs of distress, and how to approach people who may be considering suicide.

Click here to view the session via our YouTube channel.

Walk a Mile in My Shoes

From Thursday 10th September 2020, Shawmind invited people to take part in its month-long activity to encourage gentle exercise, raise funds and increase awareness around suicide, mental health and wellbeing.

The campaign, Walk a Mile in My Shoes, aimed to get people thinking -and most importantly- talking to one another about mental health and emotional wellbeing while they walked a mile between World Suicide Prevention Day (10th September) and World Mental Health Day on 9th October.

People simply headed out for a walk, on their own or with family or friends (whilst maintaining current social distancing guidelines) logged their walk on an app, such as Strava, and uploaded a photo to social media page, tagging three friends to then do the same.

Search the hashtag #WalkAMileInMyShoes to see their posts!

Although this campaign finished officially on the 9^th October, there’s no reason why you can’t still take part. Simply follow the instructions above and get walking!

TIP: You can also use our Mindful Meander group to get your mile in, whilst having a natter and a laugh at the same time!

The campaign has raised just shy of £3,000 to date.

World Mental Health Day

This World Mental Health Day (9^th October), Shawmind hosted a Teacher Wellbeing Panel discussion with individuals with a teaching background, looking to raise awareness for the need for more mental health training and support in schools for teachers.

Teachers are at the forefront of children and young people’s mental health and it is vital that they receive suitable training that enables them to provide the appropriate support for their students.

During the panel, we discussed the need for this training, areas for concern, and gave people the opportunity to ask questions around mental health within schools.

You can view the panel discussion now on our YouTube channel.

During Homelessness Awareness Week (5^th – 11^th October), Shawmind began inviting supporters to take part in the second annual Newark Sleep Out.

Launched by Newark and Sherwood District Council’s Housing Options team and sponsored by local estate agents Buttercross Estates, the Newark Sleep Out involves local people spending the night outside in the elements, to experience something of what it is like to be homeless.

For the first time the Newark Sleep Out, which is due to take place overnight on Friday 12^th March 2021, will involve participant’s bedding down for the night in their own gardens, owing to predicted Covid19 restrictions.

To enable the event to go ahead, organisers will encourage sleepers to build their ‘bashes’ in their private, secure gardens and tune into a range of information about homelessness via Zoom on the night.

Daniel Otton, Managing Director at Buttercross Estates, the event sponsor, said: “As a letting agent, we see far too many cases of homelessness and I know it’s just the tip of the iceberg. We are sponsoring Newark Sleep Out 2021 to help raise funds for the local charities that support those affected by homelessness.

“The charities involved, now more than ever, need our support to continue the great work that they do and we would urge you get involved with the sleep out by signing up, or supporting those that have.

“I’m disappointed that we won’t be able to host a sleep out where people can come together for an evening of education and fundraising, but hopefully by taking this online and inviting people to join in from their own homes, we’ll be able to welcome many more people to take part.”

Analysis released in February 2020 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government revealed a total of 4,266 people were deemed to be sleeping rough in England on a single ‘typical’ night in autumn 2019.

The report also revealed that the overall number of people sleeping rough in England has increased by 55% in the last five years.

The charities due to benefit from the funds raised on the night include the Winter Night Shelter, Newark Women’s Refuge, Newark Emmaus Trust and mental health and wellbeing charity, Shawmind.

Su Hallam, Charity Manager at Shawmind, said: “Mental health can be both a cause as well as a consequence of homelessness. And I’m hopeful that by putting themselves in the same position, participants will gain a greater understanding and empathy for the homeless community of Newark and Sherwood.”

Anyone interested in taking part in the nighttime event can register his or her place on the Newark and Sherwood District Council website here: https://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/housing/sleepout/

More information, including how to collect donations, which will be split equally between the charities involved, will be issued to those who register in the next few weeks.

Passionate about mental health and wellbeing? Want to help others access the support they need? Looking for a cause to rally around and fundraise for?

You sound like a Shawmind Champion!

We have recently been contacted by people from across the country who want to work with us to support our training, volunteering and fundraising, creating a society which is equipped to support those with mental ill health.

A Shawmind Champion takes on many forms, some are mental health advocates who mention us when they are talking to others on social media or delivering a keynote speech at an event; some are regular fundraisers who rope their friends, family or work colleagues into events or challenges to raise a little or a lot every year; some are donors who love the work we are going and want it to continue well into the future; some join our team as dedicated volunteers, supporting people experiencing mental ill health; and some get involved in our campaigns like Sock it to Stigma in February, Men’s Mental Health Week or World Mental Health Day in October.

Shawmind Champion Case Studies

Fundraiser: Cricketer Bowled Over by Fundraising Support

Martyn is a big cricket fan and on the longest day of the summer he took to the nets at his beloved cricket club and batted from sunrise to sunset in support of Shaw Mind.

He promoted his Bat-a-thon on social media and with the help out our marketing manager issued a news release to the local media, charity press and cricketing magazines.

Thankfully, his teammates were also keen to support him in his fundraising efforts, so many of them took on admin roles to help him set up his fundraising page, sharing his updates on their own social media pages and taking bookings for member of the public to bat against him on the day of the event.

Martyn was happy to talk about his personal experience of mental ill health during several radio interviews where he also promoted the event and his fundraising page.

After a very successful event, which attracted more than 50 bowlers and resulted in 2,557 balls being bowled, Martyn raised an impressive £1,500, including Gift Aid.

Volunteer: Becoming Part of Something Special

Amy has been volunteering with us since the very start of our community outreach work and is well loved by the people who attended our Breathe Cafes (pre-COVID19), those she supports via telephone and text and those who join us for Mindful Meander walks.

Her caring and compassionate nature coupled with her knowledge of mental health makes her a real asset to our charity.

Here is what she says about volunteering with us:

“There is nothing else like Breathe available out there for people who feel they need some support.

“It’s a big step for them to come through the door to talk to us, but it’s a real privilege when you start to build that trust – it feels really good.

“People come to Breathe because it has established a good reputation in the town and I keep coming back because I feel that I’m part of something special.”

Need More Information?

To help you decide how you would prefer to work with us we’ve crafted a Shawmind Champion Handbook, packed full of useful info, tools and answers to a whole range of questions.

Download the SM Champions Handbook and if you’re interested in becoming a Shawmind Champion get in touch via enquiries@shawmind.org to let us know what you’re able to offer.

In the meantime, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn to hear more about our events, training and fundraising campaigns.

We are pleased to announce the relaunch of our popular Breathe Café to provide nationwide mental health and wellbeing support.

With social distancing rules continuing to limit the number of people who can meet up, we have turned our attention online for the ongoing provision of our regular Breathe Café group.

Between its launch and the end of 2019, the original Breathe Café, Pop-Up and Hub groups welcomed more than 400 individuals in a range of community spaces.

Su Hallam, Charity Manager at Shawmind, said: “Before lockdown we were regularly welcoming a number of new and regular visitors to our Breathe Café, Hub and Pop-Up groups in Newark, thanks to the support of a number of local venues and our wonderful volunteers.

“We have been holding on to the hope of being able to re-establish the groups, but with the situation as it is, we have decided to take the groups online, so that people can still get the reassurance, support and guidance they need, from the comfort of their own home.

“I’m really looking forward to taking the group online, so we can offer our support to people all over the UK, not just in our hometown of Newark.”

Starting on Tuesday 22^nd September the first Breathe Café will take place on Zoom from 7pm until 8.30pm. The group will then take place fortnightly, alternating between a lunchtime and evening meeting time.

The open and accessible group will provide a safe space for people experiencing mental ill health and access to support and resources for their families and friends.

After an introduction from the charity manager, visitors will be encouraged to talk through their feelings, thoughts and worries with experienced Shawmind volunteers, who will be able to signpost to additional services in their communities and offer to be a listening ear in the coming weeks.

To book and register for your free place, pick a Breathe Cafe Online event here: https://shawmind.org/event-category/breathe-cafe/

Donna is walking a mile with Shawmind in memory of her father, Graham, who she lost to suicide in 2008. Donna has attended one of our suicide prevention sessions and has found it has brought her some peace as she’s been able to think more about what her father might have been thinking and feeling in the final weeks and days of his life.

Donna knows that she could not have done anything to change the outcome of her father’s choices, but now she has attended the training she feels better equipped to be able to offer help to someone else if she spots the signs. Being empowered to help someone when they need it the most has helped Donna process more of what she has been through and fills her with hope for the future.

If you would like to ‘walk with Donna’ take part in Walk a Mile in My Shoes between 10th September (World Suicide Prevention Day) and 9th October (World Mental Health Day).

Find out more about the campaign, including how to donate and how to share on social media, here.