College News

QE staff and students go green for mental health awareness week

Staff and students at QE have joined forces to participate in Mental Health Awareness Week. This national initiative, which acts as a yearly reminder for everyone to check in with family, friends and co-workers, has seen members of the College wear green ribbons as a symbol of their support. QE’s student Wellbeing Group are also launching a social media campaign to raise awareness. The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is nature and the group have sent wild flower seeds to local community groups with the aim of encouraging them to go outside and get planting. With the Wellbeing Group focusing on improving mental health throughout the year, many members have completed the Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) suicide prevention course and this has been accompanied by a number of staff obtaining a qualification in Mental Health First Aid.

Nancy Wall, Student Services Co-ordinator at QE, comments: ‘Mental Health Awareness Week is an opportunity for us to talk about all aspects of mental health. Everybody is willing to talk about their physical health but there is still a stigma attached to mental health, one which has to be eradicated. It’s wonderful that the Wellbeing Group use their role to highlight ways in which we can improve and strengthen both our physical and mental health as it is more important than ever that we look after ourselves’.

For more information on QE’s Wellbeing Group, please contact Nancy Wall, Student Services Co-ordinator (nwall@qeliz.ac.uk).