COLLEGE SUPPORTS MENTAL HEALTH DURING NATIONAL WEEK OF AWARENESS

Image caption: Mental Health Awareness Week poster

North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC) is marking Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 May) with a series of activities designed to support staff currently working from home during the coronavirus pandemic. Activities will include online resilience training, ideas for keeping active during lockdown, and a chance to share video stories on the college’s dedicated Microsoft Teams wellbeing channel.

Most NWSLC staff are currently working remotely to support students who are not attending college helping them to complete their courses and achieve their qualifications by the end of the summer term. The college produces a regular bulletin for staff every ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’ that includes ideas for creative activities, ways to maintain an exercise routine and a channel to keep in touch and remain connected with colleagues.

This year, the theme of Mental Health Awareness Week is focused on the importance of kindness, reflecting the response of the nation to the current crisis. The Mental Health Foundation has commissioned new research into the benefits of kindness demonstrating its positive impact on mental health, both for the recipients and for those who carry out kind acts.

Marion Plant, OBE FCGI, Principal and Chief Executive of NWSLC said, “I have seen so many examples of kindness in action over the last eight weeks of lockdown, with staff and students making PPE for the NHS in their own time at home, delivering donations to local food banks and providing welfare support for vulnerable students when they need help.

“While I am proud of their innovation and commitment, I am always mindful of the need to prioritise the mental health and wellbeing of colleagues who are increasingly isolated from the college community. It is important that we continue to support them to develop their resilience as we learn to adjust to this new way of working.”

Marion, who is a trustee of the National Society Council (Church of England), consistently contributes a Christian perspective to college policies as well as to national educational debate. She added, “I think all of us has experienced the power of kindness over the last few months and has seen how it can unlock our shared humanity, strengthen relationships, and develop communities. It is a cornerstone of our individual and collective mental health and resonates across all cultures.”

“I hope that this week’s activities during Mental Health Awareness Week will provide a boost for our staff and help them to continue in their fantastic efforts to keep the college on track remotely.”

NWSLC further supports mental health through its online course offer which is free* to most adults. Topics include Understanding Children and Young People’s Mental Health, Awareness of Mental Health Problems, and Mental Health First Aid and Advocacy at Work. All courses lead to fully accredited, nationally recognised Level 2 qualifications.

To follow a distance learning course with NWSLC, you must be a British EU or EEA a citizen, have been a permanent resident of the UK, EU, or EEA for the whole of the previous three years and be over 19. If you are aged between 19 and 23, you must already hold a Level 2 qualification.

Click here to find out more about Online and Distant Learning courses with the College.

*Terms and conditions apply