Reflecting on Mental Health Week…

Protecting and supporting our volunteers mental health and wellbeing is always at the heart of what we do at Commercial Foundation. 

Last month we celebrated Mental Health Week in the UK, which coincided rather nicely with our own mental health workshops at the Foundation. During this week of the 8 week course, we aim to provide our young volunteers with skills and techniques to help manage personal wellbeing, as well as providing an open discussion and conversation around mental health.

‘Self Care’…

We had the wonderful Charlotte from ‘The Holistic Team’ in to remind us that self care is important! The volunteers were treated to a massage and learnt that self care is not self-indulgence, it is self preservation!

‘Mental Jenga’…

We used mental Jenga as a way to openly discuss our difficulties with mental health in a simple and visual way. Each block contained a question or a prompt to help difficult subjects become easier to talk about.

How Can We Improve Our Mental Health?…

We looked at various methods of improving our mental health, and also what could cause it to decline! The volunteers wrote down and discusses different techniques in groups. 

Each group researched different mental health organisations, in particular ‘Heads Above the Waves’ – a non-for-profit organisation that raises awareness of depression and self harm in young people.

‘Positive Coping Mechanisms’

• Exercise
• Meditate
• Walking
• Listen to a podcast
• Take a hot bath
• Yoga
• Sleep
• Healthy Eating

Mental Health support doesn’t end after one week…

At the Foundation we are constantly supporting our young people with their mental health. Every volunteer is assigned a course leader who they have regular one-to-one sessions with. During these sessions all information discussed is confidential, with the main focus being to help and mentor our volunteers not just in their jobs, but emotionally and mentally too.