As Mental Health Awareness Week draws to a close, we wanted to remind you about our Breathing Space programme, which supports any of our customers who are experiencing difficulties with mental health issues.
We all struggle with our mental health at times, and we all need support. Talking it through can help and it’s important that you know you are not alone. Your mental health is equally as important as your physical health.
In partnership with Mind and Togetherall, we offer a free confidential service offering support and guidance by phone, text, or digitally, known as Breathing Space.
Breathing Space supports Orbit customers who are experiencing difficulties with mental health issues, as part of our Better Days myWellbeing offer. Breathing Space aims to prevent problems occurring or worsening, tackling the causes rather than dealing with the consequences. Our ultimate goal is to support our customers to be in control of their lives and feel empowered to contribute to their community and society.
Anyone can refer a customer to this service, with their consent, and customers can self-refer – either by visiting http://www.togetherall.com/joinnow/orbit or completing our referral form.
One of our Triage Officers referred a customer to our Breathing Space programme, as a way to bridge the gap in support caused by the pandemic. After a series of calls and being signposted to other services, the customer said that they ‘felt in a much better place [and] had appreciated being able to talk to someone whilst feeling low’. Our funding from The National Lottery Community Fund made this possible, so thank you to lottery players and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. If you’re interested in reading about other customers we’ve helped, visit our Case Studies page.
It’s proven that connecting with nature has been found to help with mental health problems including anxiety and depression, which is why it is a focus for this year's #MHAW.
Mark Rowland, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation said: “Mental Health Awareness Week has grown to be one of the biggest awareness weeks in the UK. This year the theme is on nature and its central role for our mental health. Since the beginning of the pandemic, millions of us turned to nature to help us get through lockdowns and our research shows that good mental health depends on us being able to connect with nature in some way and its power in both prevention of and recovery from poor mental health. During the week, we want to hear people’s stories about how the natural world has supported their mental health. We want the week to explore how everyone across the UK can connect with nature and experience the mental health benefits wherever they live.”
We’d love to hear your stories – if you’ve enjoyed being outdoors and connecting with nature in your neighbourhood, if you have transformed your local green space, or have used our Breathing Space service, please get in touch by emailing communications@orbit.org.uk.
For more information about this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week visit mentalhealth.org.uk/mhaw or join the conversation on social media using #ConnectWithNature and #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
