Published on: May 17, 2023
Staff at our Compass Coventry young people’s mental health service, who presented a wellbeing workshop for young learners at a Coventry training academy, have been asked by tutors to do it again at their other centres.
Amanda Gallagher and Lynne Tyler led an hour-long interactive workshop with young people training to be hairdressers and beauticians at the Heart of England Training (HOET) in Coventry. They have now been asked to run the same workshop with learners in Rugby and Birmingham.
Lynne said: “We delivered an emotional wellbeing workshop to trainees on the hairdressing and beauty course in Coventry. The tutors understand that the young people need strategies to be resilient as they move forward in their careers and in life.”
She said: “We got them to look at what their early warning signs are. What happens to them when they’re feeling angry, when they’re feeling sad? What happens in their own bodies?”
They looked at different strategies that they could use to help look after their own emotional wellbeing.
“We taught them grounding techniques in real time which they practiced while we were there so they could see how it was done and how it could help.
“We showed them breathing exercises, looking at mindfulness and encouraging them to think about what sorts of activities they could do. So going for a walk, going to the gym, getting some exercise, and connecting with other people.”
She continued: “They loved it. We got some really positive feedback from them and their teachers saying it was brilliant.”
Amanda said: “Overall, it was a successful first event. It was highly supported and afterwards, we received many compliments.”
She said students had said ‘it was fun’, ‘I learnt lots’ and it was ‘very good’. Staff commented that the workshop provided many strategies for managing emotions and mindfulness techniques. They thought their students enjoyed using grounding techniques and actively getting involved.
The work at HOET in Coventry was covered by the Compass Coventry service agreement, but the service has subsequently reached an agreement with the provider to do sessions with HOET trainees in different centres outside Coventry.