Staff from the Adult Learning Disability Team were invited to prioritise and focus on their own mental wellbeing at their very first dedicated wellbeing day.
Led by Sarah Page, Community Learning Disability Nurse, and other wellbeing champions in Central, this first time event allowed staff to focus on the importance of their own wellbeing and explore mechanisms to prioritise themselves.
The event held at Greenbank in Preston was attended by staff from the Central Learning Disability Service. The award winning inclusive dance group, Dance Syndrome opened the event with a movement and dance session which enabled everyone to get up and move, express themselves and be free to dance under the supervision of Jen Blackwell, Creative Founder and Director and Donna Wheeldon, Dance Artist.
After the energetic start Sarah Page said:
“Today is a great opportunity to get everyone together, as we haven’t been able to do this since the Covid Pandemic. Getting together in one place is so important for staff morale, and this event has been created to promote wellbeing amongst our staff. Staff are so integral to everything we do and we know we need to look after them.”
During the day staff were invited to attend their chosen break-out sessions, these included sessions on reiki, guided meditation, burnout prevention, physio sessions and team resilience. All the sessions were designed with wellbeing in mind and promoted the importance of taking care of personal wellbeing and offering strategies to deal with certain situations. During breaks staff were encouraged to network and socialise whilst enjoying refreshments.
In the communal areas staff could also visit a number of stall holders from different departments including Health & Wellbeing, The Quit Squad, The Resilience Hub, ED&I and Speak Out. All the stall holders attended the event to promote their own services to staff members and communicate the benefits of engaging with these areas to improve wellbeing. The HARRI bus was also on site to offer Covid vaccinations and free pulse and blood pressure checks with the results given instantly.
The tree of happiness became a pivotal part of the day as attendees were invited to share what makes them happy and post these messages on the tree. The tree allowed people to take a moment to reflect on what does make them happy and share these moments with their colleagues.
Sarah concluded:
“The Central Learning Disability Service Well-Being Day was an absolute success. We received extremely positive feedback from all the staff who attended on the day and everyone appeared to have a lot of fun!
The common consensus was that staff wish for the event to be repeated at a larger venue, which we will be looking into for 2023. It is paramount that staff feel valued and days like today hopefully show staff that their health and well-being is important to the trust.
Let’s hope this is just the start of raising awareness of the importance and benefits of staff wellbeing.”
