West Suffolk College hosted their second mental health awareness event of the year.
Every day of the week had a theme to get people talking about issues surrounding this complex subject including Mindful Monday, Thoughtful Tuesday and Friendship Friday.
Guest speakers from the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust and The Source hosted online talks.
And all events were organised by business lecturer Mike Opukah and a team of volunteer equality and diversity ambassadors made up of students from the college and the University Studies campus.
Mike – who creates activities for various events to support national awareness campaigns throughout the year, said: “The ambassadors have only been in place for a few months and I’m proud of what they have achieved. In terms of these events, mental health issues have really come to the fore during Covid.
“In June this year, the Office for National Statistics suggested that the number of people suffering from depression had doubled in the UK since the Covid 19 pandemic began.
“That’s obviously a worrying trend, therefore as a college, we constantly champion the phrase that ‘it’s ok to not be ok’ – and if you are not OK, we are here to support you.
“This sentiment ran through everything we did this week.”
One of the ambassadors was 18 year old Naomi Deane from Bury St Edmunds. She said: “I became an ambassador as I want to make positive change. In terms of this week, the mission has been to encourage other to express themselves and help break mental health stigmas.”
18 year old Katie Johnson from Soham is also an ambassador that has been involved in the mental health awareness week. She said: “All events have been aimed at working with others and letting them know that there is always someone at the college to support them if they need help. Ultimately as a college, we want to collectively work together and change the way that mental health is perceived.”
