Aberdeenshire team gears up for Grampian Wellbeing Festival
Mental health charity, Penumbra, are gearing up for the Grampian Wellbeing Festival which runs throughout May.
The Penumbra Aberdeenshire team in the North, Central and South are taking part in a round of community wellbeing events throughout the festival that are designed to connect with people across the shire.
The team will be promoting the WELL Aberdeenshire service and doing their best to open up positive conversations around mental health.
Penumbra runs a number of mental health support services across Scotland and in the north east, they have the WELL Aberdeenshire service which offers free mental health and wellbeing support for anyone aged 16-65 who lives in Aberdeenshire. Support can be accessed by self-referral which means people can contact the team direct Monday to Friday.
Peer practitioner Nick Farrell wants people to know the service is so easy to access:
“The great thing about WELL Aberdeenshire is that it’s both free and easy to access for people living across all communities in the shire from the Coast to the Glens’. So anyone experiencing a dip in their mental health and who might be looking for that bit of extra support to get through a tough time can just contact us to self-refer or just find out more information.
“We always want to reduce barriers for people accessing support for their mental health and wellbeing, and that’s why people don’t need a diagnosis to access our support. We can offer up to three support sessions to explore each person’s current situation and plan a way forward. Plus, our friendly group workshops are a great place for people to share practical techniques and tips with others on managing your mental health. We’re really proud that many of us in the organisation are employed in peer support roles including myself. This means we have our own experience of managing a mental health issue over the years. We always say that every person’s situation and experience is different, but having that lived experience means we come with an additional understanding of what each person might be going through.
“For anyone feeling a bit nervous about contacting us I’d say to them, they can feel really confident of a kind and compassionate space to explore how they’re feeling or what they are challenged with.”
WELL Aberdeenshire’s activities throughout the month of May can be found here: Grampian Wellbeing Festival Events Brochure
For anyone feeling a bit nervous about contacting us, like Emma says please come along and say hello, we’d love to see you during the festival
WELL Aberdeenshire’s Assistant Service Manager Emma Watson, says they’re using the opportunity to get out into the community:
“We’re always looking for new and innovative opportunities to get out into the community and Grampian Wellbeing Festival is a prime chance to connect with people and let folk know we’re here to offer support. Often times just making that initial connection and having open conversations in a really informal way can do wonders for our wellbeing, so we really want people to know we’re here for them.
“That’s why we’re happy to announce these dates of activities happening across the festival. We’d love to see as many people as possible there, so you’re in the area, please drop by. And don’t forget to keep up with all the information and updates on our Facebook page @PenumbraAberdeenshire.
“It is always best to book in advance and details of how to do this are also on our Facebook page. You can also contact us on 01467 230320 or via email on well.aberdeenshire@penumbra.org.uk . So come along and say hello, we’d love to see you, out and about all throughout May.”
To find out where our teams will be during the festival in May, check out the Grampian Wellbeing Festival Events Brochure
For more information on this, please contact: communications@penumbra.org.uk
