Weston College launches new wellbeing and mental health strategy
To give you more detail into what will be delivered we have created a short film to give you a further insight and to understand the benefits: Wellbeing@Weston Student Film.
The pandemic has more than ever, highlighted the need for Weston College to amplify strategically our commitment to the health and wellbeing of our whole community. Across the country the short-term impact of Covid-19 has resulted in significant health and wellbeing issues and the indicators are that there will be considerable long-term effects of Covid-19 which have yet to be determined.
With World Mental Health Day taking place over the weekend (Oct 10th), this week is our cross-college Wellbeing Week, and Weston College is delighted to launch our new mental health and wellbeing strategy – Wellbeing@Weston. This strategy sets out our approach to enhancing and developing an inclusive and caring environment at Weston College.
Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive commented: “We want our staff and students to feel supported and able to reach their potential. Our Wellbeing@Weston strategy has been designed with collective ownership across the whole college and as such, we all are responsible for ensuring its successful delivery.”
Wellbeing@Weston is the key vehicle for how the College will support its people, as one of the three strands of the wider Weston College Group’s Body and Mind Innovation Framework. Our people strand, which is spearheaded by the Wellbeing@Weston strategy will be informed by the work the College undertakes on the strands of partners and pioneers, which will ensure we continually optimise the mental health of the College community by placing wellbeing, connectivity and accessibility at the heart of all we do.
The Principal also added: “We are committed to ensuring that across the whole College community, everyone has a responsibility for actively supporting mental health and wellbeing, whether their own or that of others. By taking a whole institution approach to mental health and wellbeing, we will work collectively to promote an informed and inclusive culture. A culture that enables our students and you as staff to flourish and ensures an appreciation of mental health and wellbeing is central to all we do.”
To further enhance this ethos the College has also recently appointed a number of new roles to drive this forward including a position on its Leadership Board that will focus on wellbeing, as well as appointing Georgie Ford as our Excellence Lead for Mental Health to spear head the approach and further build capacity and confidence within the organisation to understand and shape how we respond to mental health needs.
Dr Phillips concluded by saying: “It’s never been more important to practice regular selfcare and maintain our emotional wellbeing and, as a college, we must work together to create a culture of positive mental health and wellbeing that benefits everyone and to make sure that no one is left behind.”
More information on Wellbeing@Weston can be accessed via the staff and student SharePoint site.
