Hallam
Head Space is affiliated to Mental Wealth UK, a charity committed to promoting
positive wellbeing on university campuses.
Hallam Head Space was started in January 2012 and is fully student-led. Head Space have aimed to “Break the Silence”
on mental health issues among students and so far, we appear to be
succeeding. We have run a variety of
events with the aim of providing an outlet for students to talk to others in
similar situations, get involved in various activities and ultimately – to tackle
stress. We have developed a ‘Survival
Guide’ containing advice on: eating well, exercising, budgeting and seeking
help and we frequently give away revision materials, including: pens, notebooks
and bottled water. Recently we have
hosted a petting zoo at both campuses in order to provide students with a break
from exam stresses.
Hallam
Head Space has been dedicated to breaking down the barriers between students
and the wider community. We started by
tackling the barrier between students and university services. Since January 2012, we have run events in
conjunction with Student Wellbeing, developed relationships with the Careers
and Employment Service, and made contacts within the Development and Society
department.
Due
to the external volunteering work of the Group Leader at the time (Rachel
Staniforth), on 8th and 9th May 2013, Hallam Head Space
succeeded in cementing ties within the community. A local charity called Survivors Of
Depression In Transit (S.O.D.I.T.) held a mental health conference in Sheffield
city centre entitled “Bringing Communities Together” at which Head Space ran a
stall. This in itself was a fantastic
opportunity, as Head Space were able to speak not only to other local charities,
but also to the local IAPT team, independent practitioners and service users
about our aims and achievements so far.
Additionally (and again attributed to the external volunteering work of
the Group Leader), Head Space were asked to run a workshop for attendees of the
conference, entitled “Mood and Food”.
Five members of Hallam Head Space (Rachel Staniforth, Sammie Taylor,
Megan Bean, Pippa Smith and Kathy Steward) worked together to design and
deliver an hour long workshop that was both informative and interactive, and
which ran twice each day of the conference.
Community ties were further strengthened as Change for Life Barnsley
provided some materials for the workshop and leaflets to give out to
attendees. Around fifty people attended
the workshops, and approximately 200 people attended the conference overall.
Hallam
Head Space now has community contacts directly resulting from their work at the
Sheffield mental health conference “Bringing Communities Together”. We believe that we have found the key to
community integration: getting involved!
By seeking out volunteering opportunities within the community and
monitoring events coming up, it is possible to raise the profile of student
mental health. Student’s are people too!
Rachel
Staniforth
14.5.13
