Published on: October 28, 2024
At the beginning of the school year, Compass Changing Lives attended Fresher’s Fairs across Derby College Group’s three Campuses.
For a whole cohort of students, this was their first week of college. The Fresher’s Fairs were events where new students could learn about the resources, opportunities and support available to them at their new place of learning. Changing Lives were there to introduce themselves to these students, and share the mental health and emotional wellbeing support that they offer.
Derby College Group has multiple offerings over multiple campuses, and Changing Lives attended the Fresher’s Fairs for three of them. Mel (Engagement and Equalities Officer), Rachel (Participation Practitioner) and Meg (Training & Consultation Worker) went to the Roundhouse Campus, a technical and professional skills college, on the first day. The same team were joined on the following day by Carn (Marketing and Communications Officer), for the fair at Broomfield Hall, a land use and leisure college on a working estate. The final Fresher’s Fair was attended by Rachel, Carn and practitioner Shailey, at DCG’s Joseph Wright Centre, which specialised in academic qualifications such as A Levels.
Over the course of these three events, Changing Lives spoke with hundreds of students, about the service, mental health and wellbeing, and their feelings about starting college. The students that spoke to Changing Lives engaged immediately with the subject matter, and expressed curiosity and enthusiasm about the service. Many said that they recognised Changing Lives from their time at primary and secondary schools in Derbyshire.
Students were invited to contribute positive affirmations to the Changing Lives “positivitree”, and after each event they were heaving with suggestions. Examples of messages shared include “there is a light at the end of the tunnel” and “I am meant to be happy”.
Changing Lives staff also took this as an opportunity to discuss their logo competition and wellbeing app, both of which received a lot of interest from students. The app was seen as particularly relevant to the young people present, due to the independence it grants young people looking to improve their own wellbeing and seek help, thanks to the resources available and self referral feature.
Derby College Group came under the remit of Changing Lives in June, when the service expanded to include the Early Intervention and Targeted Support Service. This event signalled the first time when a cohort would join with support from Changing Lives. As such staff were really interested in hearing what Changing Lives had to offer, and were excited about the prospect of working more closely in future.
That excitement in the future was reflected in everyone in attendance: staff, students, and the team from Changing Lives that attended.
colleges , Derby , Derby and Derbyshire Mental Health Support , Event , wellbeing , whole school approach