This week marks Stress Awareness Week (2 – 8 November) which is an annual event run by the International Stress Management Association (ISMA).
The aim of the day is to raise awareness by providing a platform for stress and mental health problems to be highlighted and for insights from around the world to be illuminated.
Stress and mental health have become even more prevalent issues in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and has presented new challenges for organisations, as well as individuals. Statistics from the Office of National Statistics show that almost one in five adults (19.2%) were likely to be experiencing some form of depression during the coronavirus pandemic in June 2020; this had almost doubled from around 1 in 10 (9.7%) before the pandemic (July 2019 to March 2020).
Kirklees College is committed to promoting the importance of positive mental health and wellbeing. As part of its staff wellbeing programme, the college has introduced a four-week ‘Moving into Mindfulness’ course. Open to all the college community, the course is designed to support employees through understanding the principles of mindfulness, how the brain works and blending movement and mindfulness to reduce stress in everyday life.
The college has also partnered with Togetherall, a safe online community to support mental health. The service is providing free, self-guided courses on managing stress and worry which students and staff can access, including understanding stress and worry, healthy lifestyle, sleep hygiene and keeping a good schedule.
Staff can email ace@kirkleescollege.ac.uk to register their interest and non-staff members can enrol via the online shop here.