Last week, around 200 people came together for Be Well, an online conference focusing on improving mental wellbeing across Warwickshire.
The week featured live presentations, discussion sessions and practical activities and sessions covered critical topics in mental health, including wellbeing for children and young people, workplace wellness and suicide prevention. Recordings of sessions are still available on the Be Well website, and you can register to view them here.
Throughout the week, several case study videos were shared, exploring examples of recent investment in mental health and wellbeing through the COVID-19 Recovery and Restoration Plan. The case study videos were used as part of the sessions to generate discussions and spark ideas of how attendees could contribute to improving mental wellbeing within their own organisation or job function. All case study videos are now available on the Warwickshire County Council YouTube page.
Feedback from attendees mentioned how “informative”, “interactive” and “engaging” it was, with one attendee saying “The topics it covered were relevant to my working role - and are big issues in current social trends.” Many left the week having made new connections they hoped to follow up on in the future.
Alongside the main sessions, attendees could also work on their own personal wellbeing through practical activity sessions such as the power of laughter for wellbeing, and at the end of each day there was space for attendees to reflect on and discuss their observations from the presentations.
Councillor Margaret Bell, portfolio holder for adult social care and health for Warwickshire County Council, said:
“Mental health is an important focus for the council, and it was wonderful to see so many people from around Warwickshire come together to discuss this important topic, to share ideas and learn from each other.
“Our attendees included those working for local authorities, charities and voluntary organisations, education settings, the NHS, and it was great to bring together so many valuable perspectives on how we can, individually and collectively, continue to make improvements in mental wellbeing across the county.”
You can still view recordings from all of the Be Well sessions by registering on the event website.
There is a range of mental health support and services available across Warwickshire, to help people improve wellbeing and provide help during difficult times.