Posted on: Friday 7 October 2022
A quarter of adults in the UK will experience problems with their mental health at some point in their lives.
On Monday, Torfaen Council’s Community Connectors team will be marking World Mental Health Day by holding a free wellbeing day at the Congress Theatre.
The ‘Bringing the Community Together’ event will serve up lots of activities for people to take part in, including free hand and arm massage from Mac-Ed beauty, as well as Head4Arts arts and crafts taster sessions.
There will also be a live choir and a free prize draw, with a food hamper and other prizes up for grabs.
The event kicks off a week of wellbeing activities, including free gym sessions, therapeutic art and cooking on budget workshops, details of which can be found via the Community Wellbeing Event Facebook page.
Growing Space, a local wellbeing centre that will be present on the day, will also offer wellbeing activities at their low-cost Happy Cwtch Café in Nant Bran Centre, Cwmbran.
Team leader at Growing Space, Keri Stott, said: “This event gives us the chance to showcase the many wellbeing services we have to offer the public. In a nutshell we support people with mental ill health, autism, or a learning disability to build confidence, develop social skills and improve quality of life.
“We do this through the provision of therapeutic training, vocational skills, creativity and work experience, some of which we’ll be offering during the week. We cannot wait to be a part of the day and hope we see lots attending.”
Executive Member for Children, Families and Communities, Councillor Fiona Cross, said:
"This is a hugely important event to showcase the amount of support available for mental health and wellbeing throughout Torfaen. The negative stigma around mental health has lessened in recent years but it can still be difficult to know where to start sometimes. This event is a great opportunity to informally seek out potential opportunities and gain advice in a safe space.
“The Community Connectors, the team who have organised this event, are one part of these valued services. They help those who are isolated or have barriers to accessing services. They, as it says in the name, can connect users to a variety of community opportunities, many of which will be at this event.
“I would encourage anyone that has been directly or indirectly affected by ill mental health, to pop along to this event and take up the support on offer.”
To find out more information about Torfaen Community Connectors and the wider mental health services available, call 01495 742397 or email communityconnectors@torfaen.gov.uk