Find out how we help community groups to offer mental health support

Mental health support session with the women's group at Community Language Support Services 

Our Mental Health Partnerships Team consists of three members of Healthwatch staff who are based within our local mental health trust. The team supports the Trust to build relationships with communities that have less access to health services, including mental health support.

We have delivered several wellbeing sessions at Community Language Support Services, an organisation based at St Mellitus Church on Tollington Park that provides welfare support to refugee communities from East Africa and other Arabic-speaking countries.

The women’s group there requested a session on depression. We went (Philippa and Kay from our Mental Health Partnerships Team) together with colleagues from Age UK to deliver the workshop. We took along some prepared information - some in Arabic around depression, tips for better sleep, grounding techniques, as well as support options for women in Islington such as the Recovery College, Maya Centre, Stress Project, and other social support (eg Islington People’s Rights for welfare support). 

We asked the group to share feelings about low mood, what lifts your mood, and what support is available around depression. The session was lively with around 30 women taking part. Interpreting was provided in Arabic, Tigrinya, and Somali. 

The group shared their feelings and were relieved to discuss some anxieties and identify some stresses in common with each other. The women were encouraged to share thoughts and ideas about depression in general rather than their personal histories. We talked about stress levels in life. Some women said they found themselves not wanting to talk or shutting themselves away from everything, turning to food, or feeling the need to control everything. Religion was a clear support for the group. Many of the women took strength from prayer and their community. 

The most animated discussion was about what makes us feel better. We talked about creative activities such as drawing and writing stories, some exercises such as yoga and pilates, and social activities and how much the women provide support to each other. Everyone found trips to the seaside helpful!

Post it notes recording the feedback shared by workshop participants

At the end of the session, we spent time offering one-to-one signposting support to women who were struggling with housing issues or needed extra help to access support groups in the borough.  

Follow up

Feedback shared after the session was very positive and showed that the group found the information useful. The women felt better informed about support options and how to get help if they needed it.

Two weeks after the session, we checked back with the group leader. We learned that a few of the ladies had started meeting up for walks to keep healthy and also to improve their low mood. 

During the session, we discussed the 5 Ways to Wellbeing and the mental health benefits of giving time and helping others. When we checked back we heard that one of the attendees is now supporting a neighbour who was recently bereaved.