It’s now almost 12 months since I was elected as Community Action Officer for 15/16! One of my pledges was to campaign on reducing the stigma around Mental Health on campus and to work towards establishing a better quality and availability of welfare support for students and staff alike. Since starting in the role I’ve been working with Hayley, the Disabled Students Officer, and Ross, the Welfare Officer, to see how we could deliver on our promises for students. Today is Time to Talk Day and I thought it as good a time as any to give you an update on what’s been going on so far and what can be expected this term...
In autumn term, we celebrated World Mental Health Day and established a Mental Health Campaign group that any student can come and be a part of. We’ve had three meetings as a group and have been working towards an awareness campaign to run on campus about student experiences of mental health and accessing welfare services – if you’re interested in getting involved then email me or message me on Facebook here!
From November 22nd – December 22nd, it was Disability History Month! For the first time, the Disabled and Mental Health Students Association (DAMSA) celebrated the month with a fantastic array of events, many of which focused on Mental Health thanks to the work of Hayley, the Disabled Students Officer. DAMSA are hosting a Time To Talk event in the Rosa Parks Room in the Guild today from 12-5pm, go along if you want to learn more about Mental Health - or even just to do some crafts and relax.
This term I’ve been meeting with the University and Daisy Lindlar, your Representation and Resources Officer, to create a list of pledges that the Guild and the University will sign up to with the Time to Change campaign. These pledges will focus on creating a better environment for Mental Health for students and staff, and building the support services that we already have in places here at UoB – Look out for an announcement on this on 7th March to learn more!
This year we’re going to be celebrating University Mental Health Day by hosting a week of events on campus, commencing on the 7th March – more details on this to follow. If you’re interested in getting involved with helping out then drop me an email.
Lewis x