For World Mental Health Day, 10 October 2023, the Student Services Team will be running a variety of wellbeing events for students:

• Wellbeing drop-in sessions: 9 October-13 October, 10am-2pm
• Cookie Café - Wellbeing drop-in session: 10 October, 9am-10am
• Wellbeing stands: 10 October, 10am-2.30pm
• Dealing with Loneliness: 10 October, 11am-12pm (online)
• Mindfulness session: 12 October, 12pm-1pm
• Crisis Café: Thursdays, 6pm-11pm, available for staff and students

Student support

There are a number of teams at the University who are here to help you with your mental wellbeing, through practical and pastoral support.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Teams at the University work with you to find strategies to support your wellbeing and to overcome any barriers which mental health difficulties present to your studies. They also offer a group schedule which you can sign up to without referral.

Additionally, the Community Warden team is available to provide pastoral support to students living off-campus in the Loughborough area. Read more about how they can help you and get to know the team on their dedicated webpage.

Further services available for students can be found below:

• The LU Wellbeing app – a digital toolkit using a holistic approach to positively influence your wellbeing, incorporating mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) amongst many other techniques.  
• Togetherall – designed to help people get support to take control of their wellbeing and feel better. It provides 24/7 peer-to-peer and professional support (from experienced clinicians who are always online), plus a range of courses and tools to help people self-manage their wellbeing. 
• The Yellow Book – an online resource with various tools and techniques to help combat stress in written and audio format. The e-book features poems, songs, readings and artwork to help with your mental wellbeing (please note that sign-in is required). 
• The University Chaplaincy (Email: cfschaplains@lboro.ac.uk, Tel: 01509 223741) offers a space for quiet reflection. University Chaplains are here to listen, care and help all staff and students. No appointment is necessary. 
• Headsup – a student-run welfare association that focuses on promoting positive well-being and mental health across the University. 

For those students who are new or returning to Loughborough, although this is a very exciting time of year, it can be an uncertain period. Student Minds offer support and advice on a range of topics including information on:

• Managing expectations of university
• Taking a structured approach to making friends
• Managing uncertainty at university
• Looking after a mental health difficulty at university
• Building a network at university

Student Space also has a dedicated hub for resources, tips, and information to assist everyone through this period.

Staff support

The University recognises that employees play a vital role in our progress towards achieving excellence and so it is crucial that we embed a proactive and engaging approach to enhancing the health and wellbeing of all staff. That’s why we have a variety of services available for University staff to access, all of which can be found on the Support and Wellbeing webpages.

Here is a list of some of the services and resources we encourage staff to use if they need any wellbeing support:

• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) – a confidential, unlimited support service for any matter that might be of concern to you which is available to access 24/7 via web and telephone. Health Assured have widened their provision to include access to computerised CBT interventions, to access this please call Health Assured on 0800 028 0199.
• Maximus – confidential external support through the Access to Work Mental Health Support Service.
• My Healthy Advantage app – complementing the EAP, this app provides an enhanced set of wellbeing tools and engaging features to help the user’s mental and physical health. 
• Togetherall – designed to help people get support to take control of their wellbeing and feel better. It provides 24/7 peer-to-peer and professional support (from experienced clinicians who are always online), plus a range of courses and tools to help people self-manage their wellbeing. 
• The Yellow Book – an online resource with various tools and techniques to help combat stress in written and audio format. The e-book features poems, songs, readings and artwork to help with your mental wellbeing (please note that sign-in is required). 
• The University Chaplaincy (Email: cfschaplains@lboro.ac.uk, Tel: 01509 223741) offers a space for quiet reflection. University Chaplains are here to listen, here to care and here to help all staff and students. No appointment is necessary.   
• Mental Health First Aiders – these staff members are trained to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis – and can potentially avert a crisis from happening. They can do this by recognising warning signs, and they have the skills and confidence to approach and support someone experiencing poor mental health. 

Follow the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ and read staff and student stories on the University Health and Wellbeing blog page.

More information about University facilities and initiatives that may help with your wellbeing can be found on the Staff Wellbeing pages.