I have children and grandchildren but they don’t live here. This group gives me a chance to get out each week and see nice people.
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, which this year runs from 9 – 15 May 2022, and we’d like to highlight some of the work we do to support well being at The Mill.
During 2021, the Wellbeing Wednesdays group for vulnerable or isolated local people met at The Mill. The group took part in over 30 sessions, where they had a say in what they’d like to learn and try out in order to improve and maintain their well being. The sessions were supported by Neesha Badhan from NBAM, and funded by Clarion Housing.
The group took part in lots of different activities including creative activities and topics such as nutrition, horticulture and personal safety, physical activity like walks and yoga, and some fun including scrabble and bingo! Local volunteers and professionals came along to share their knowledge. The participants also took part in other events at The Mill and visited the E17 Art Trail where they met local artists and reflected on the local area.
There were challenges running the sessions during the pandemic and we had to adapt our plans. To begin with, we weren’t able to meet inside so we did outside activities instead. The uncertainty of the pandemic added to the anxiety about attending. We put in measures at The Mill to ensure as little risk as possible to reassure the participants.
Thank you for facilitating a great and beneficial group. Your support is very much appreciated!
Most of the participants were referred by local NHS mental health services and other local mental health charities. They had all been affected by Covid 19, but wanted to come together, even if it was outside and in small groups, showing there is a real need for face-to-face activities.
With support, the participants were able to make decisions about what might increase in their wellbeing, showing that collective thought works. We’ve involved the group in our future plans.
The retention we managed to achieve shows there is great demand for regular sessions like this, and we are starting our next project very soon. Called Reflections, we’ll be taking the time together on Mondays from 1 – 3pm, sharing and exploring how we all view our lives and world and us, facilitated by Neesha Badhan. If you’d like to come along contact us by phone 020 8521 3211 or neesha@TheMillE17.org We’d love to have you join us.
Well-Being Wednesdays Cookbook
During the project participants spoke about their isolation and also how they’d gained weight during the lockdown. Some didn’t want to cook for themselves alone, or felt like they didn’t know how to, and some thought they couldn’t afford to. This discussion brought up an opportunity to discuss nutrition and how healthy affordable meals can be achieved.
All the participants were encouraged to research, try out and bring in food they’d cooked. These nutrition sessions gave people a chance to realise they could cook for themselves, that they deserved to eat something nice, even if they live alone, and to shop around for good prices.
Though not in our original plan we delivered four sessions on this theme, and we produced a cookbook, with all the recipes and art work by the participants. The Well Being Wednesday Cookbook is on sale at The Mill, £2 and all proceeds go to support our work.