SWRR Mental Health Support
Liana Kate Alek Melly Maggie Lee Lynda
Mental Health Champions within SWRR
We have a number of Mental Health Champions within the club as well as two Welfare Officers.
Please feel free to come and have a chat if you have any concerns – likewise if you have any feedback or ideas we would love to hear them.
“As we know Running is one of the most accessible and low cost ways to be active and meet government recommendations to be moderately active for at least 150 minutes per week. Whether it’s to get fit, improve health, make friends or take on a challenge running has something to offer everyone.
Running, and sport in general, has so many positive effects on the mind. Yet for potential new members, having the confidence to take that first step out the door towards a club can be terrifying, and for someone with a Mental Health problem, it might seem impossible. For this reason we want to use our role(s) to give people, who are experiencing these struggles, the confidence they need just to put that first foot in front of the other. As well as bringing new people to the club, the scheme aims to support existing members who might be experiencing their own Mental Health issues. We hope that by having our MH Champions in place it will encourage people to open up and talk about this often stigmatised subject. Perhaps we can offer moral support to keep members engaged with club activities if they are experiencing tricky times.
These are some of the areas we wish to focus upon:
- Getting people talking about mental health, sharing their experiences and removing stigma.
- Raising awareness of mental health problems.
- Supporting people experiencing mental health problems to not just start running but also maintaining the habit.
- Supporting leaders, coaches and other volunteers with relevant guidance about mental health.
- Volunteering through MIND and other organisations to support people experiencing mental health problems to start running.
- Signposting members, if needed, to organisations/resources that offer support with mental wellbeing.
LINKS
https://www.sportandrecreation.org.uk/policy/the-mental-health-charter
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/crisis-services/helplines-listening-services/#.XJDJbCj7Q2x This link can be found within ‘mental health champions’ link above.
https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/our-programmes/runandtalk/
https://www.talkworks.dpt.nhs.uk/
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/howtomentalhealth