Suffolk Mind encourages people to connect with each other this Christmas after continued decline in mental wellbeing

Suffolk Mind is encouraging people to connect with each other this Christmas after research shows a continued and concerning decline in people’s mental wellbeing.

The latest report from Suffolk Mind shows that around 70% of people in Suffolk are still not, on average, meeting their emotional needs. This means more than two out of every three of us are experiencing stress and are at risk of mental ill health.

Before the pandemic hit, one in four of us (or 25%) experienced a mental health problem in any given year – so this figure is nearly triple what it was before Covid-19.

The needs for community and emotional connection are being most affected at the moment, meaning people don’t feel as though they are connecting with others. Nearly half of people in Suffolk are not meeting their need for community, and nearly a third don’t feel as though they have a connection with someone who they can be themselves around.

Jon Neal, chief executive of Suffolk Mind said: “People’s mental health has worryingly declined over the past four months, since the summer, where around 50% of people were not meeting emotional needs, putting them at risk of mental ill health. That was bad enough, but it seems things have just got worse.

“But we can all do something about it.

“Two of the needs that are being most poorly met are community and emotional connect. Therefore, we want to encourage people to keep connecting with each other, to support their mental health.

“It doesn’t need to be meeting with others in person, it could be a virtual meal together, a phone call or chatting to your neighbour over the fence. It’s important to keep connected to others, to reduce loneliness and isolation, especially at Christmas time.”

Suffolk Mind is encouraging people to use their PenPal service – where you can write a letter and send it free of charge to the charity, and someone will write back. Please note, this service has now closed.

The Suffolk Night Owls emotional helpline is also available over the Christmas period for people to call if they need to speak to someone. Registration for this service can be done here.

Author: Ellie Winch
Posted on: 17th December 2021

The Suffolk Mind GreenCare project to celebrate the festivities by making a Christmas feast in a shed on their allotment

We may think making Christmas dinner in the comfort of our own home is difficult, well imagine preparing a Christmas feast in a shed on an allotment? That’s what the Suffolk Mind GreenCare service is doing to celebrate the festivities.

Staff, volunteers and service users at the Hadleigh allotment project make their festive fry-up annually and this year they are holding their mini Christmas day on Friday 13th December 2019.

Sarah Manton-Roseblade, GreenCare Manager said: “We always like to celebrate Christmas at the Hadleigh allotment project and what better way than to make a delicious festive fry-up. We’ll be cooking the famous pigs in blankets, brussels sprouts, carrots, eggs and fried potatoes, and for dessert there will be mince pies. It’s great to come together to celebrate the Christmas season with nice food and a good chat”.

The Suffolk Mind GreenCare project is made up of four allotments across Suffolk (Hadleigh, Haverhill, Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich). Each site offers people the opportunity to learn about gardening and contribute to the creation of a thriving growing space that benefits everyone. People can also make new friends and get support from other group members.

Sarah Manton-Roseblade continues: “Being on an allotment is a great way to meet your physical and emotional needs; people meet others and become part of a community, they achieve something new and it enables them to have some meaning and purpose in their life whilst gently increasing their activity levels also.”

You can self-refer to the GreenCare project or become a volunteer with us, more details here.

Author: Ellie Winch
Posted on: 10th December 2019