10 April 2020

Last week we said that we would bring you some practical tips and ideas around the NHS 5 Ways to Wellbeing, which are ways of helping people to maintain and improve their mental health and wellbeing when all five are completed daily. The research tells us that these proven five simple ways can make a big difference to an individual’s happiness and can help to build their resilience and confidence. It could be said that it is the mental health equivalent to five fruit and vegetables a day and is an easy and simple approach to daily life. 

In the academic year of 2018/19, MindSpace Stamford trialed a 5 ways to wellbeing project in Bluecoat school with very positive results. Now with the support of the former Headteacher of Bluecoat, Carol Hines, who led the project successfully in her school, the 5 ways to wellbeing have been introduced into almost all our schools within the town and surrounding areas including Stamford College. 

Staff in the schools have received training in how to integrate the 5 ways to wellbeing into their school curriculums in a simple, memorable and appealing format for everyone. They have also begun to talk explicitly about mental health with their children and young people in a positive and active way.  

The 5 ways to wellbeing embrace a focus on prevention; aiming to include all five every day is a simple strategy and achievable strategy for children and adults alike who were experiencing good mental health, to learn how to maintain it and to flourish.  

Why not try the 5 ways to wellbeing?

At a time when our lives and those of our families, friends and communities are challenged with responding to impact of the Coronavirus epidemic, the 5 ways to wellbeing guidance is a valuable and simple approach to managing our mental health in a positive way. 

Dr Dan Petrie, Founder & Vice Chair of Trustees

This was one of a series of MindSpace articles published in The Stamford Mercury during the Coronavirus lockdown.