Wearing the sock for display.Modelling Sock it to me and dreadlocked Dude!Sock it to Eating Disorders visual display, with two quotes from the members along with the odd socks.Sock it to Eating Disorders! Display. With names of the socks and two quotes from the participants.Sewing very small pom poms onto the top of her pink sock.One of ATS craft group writing on her pink odd sock with fabric markers.One of our ATS craft group cutting out a felt flower shape ready to sew onto her pink sock.Blanket stitching around her flower onto the pink sock.Drawing the flower stem on with a fabric pen.
For more information on Eating Disorders Week and the Sock it campaign click the link below
The comments that your children come out with which are funny because they haven’t yet quite got the understanding of the thing they are talking about makes me smile. My favourite joke is… A man asked God to build a highway to Manhattan as God had asked the man what would he like him to do for him. God replied “I was thinking of something more spiritual. ” The man then replied “I would like to understand women” To which God replied “How big do you want the highway”! I like the comedy’s Big Bang Theory and 3rd Rock from the Sun. If you are able to laugh it is a sign that your mental health is improving. I would imagine it is good for you because your mind and body react positively to the laughter. Anon
I like the comedies Two Ronnies and Open All Hours. Laughter is good for your mental health because it releases happy hormones! B.H.R.
To read more information on Global Belly Laugh Day Click the Link Below
Nice things make me smile, also people who are being supportive and when someone gives me a hug! My husband and sometimes my daughter have done nice things for me including taking me out , buying me flowers and doing the dishes! The nicest thing I’ve done is just being helpful and supportive. doing a good deed helps my mental health by giving me a purpose. B.H.R.
Gifts off other people or giving gifts and seeing other people’s positive reaction makes me smile. The nicest thing someone has done for me is spent time talking with me for hours at a time to help me when I was extremely ill and in constant fear so that I would be calm. Supporting another person who has mental health problems is the nicest thing I have done for someone which gives you a feeling of worth. Anon
To read more information on Blue Monday Click the link below and click on January to find the day.
Apple Tree Stores Craft Group loved felt making. See below what they created….
Sewing embellishments onto her own 2D felt creation.Light pink outer and inner with blue and orange stripe felt square bag. Green cord straps.Soaped up felt being rolled with other felt fibresFelt soaps, some tied with decorative cord to tell what soap it is.Layered felt broaches. Shaped as flowers and hearts with a button in each centre to finish it off.lathering up the soap bars with water and the pulled colourful felt, ready to dry.Choosing the bright coloured felt fibres ready to pull apart.Preparing the felt base, by spaying it with water, ready to soap up and roll.Blue and orange striped square felt bag. Green inside with blue cord strap.
Wishing Everyone a very Merry Christmas!! And a Joy filled New Year!!
To hang on a garland. Hand sewn felt hearts, reindeer’s, robins, candy houses, Christmas tree with a gingerbread man on top. Arranged in the shape of a Christmas tree. Made by one of the craft group.
“My experience of bullying actually occurred when I was a teaching in a secondary school. I had been a teacher for twenty-two years. For the final five years a new headteacher was appointed. She brought a new approach with her which seemed to be to “divide and conquer”. She undermined the staff as whole, she failed to support us, even in the most difficult discipline situations. She did this in front of the pupils. Often, she would call staff into her office individually and intimidate them. I specifically remember her asking the head of the Welsh department to go to her office, where she shouted at her simply because she had spoken to the head when they were passing on the stairs.
This new headteacher tried to turn members if the department against one another, which fortunately failed in most cases as the majority of us had been working at the school for many years. Some of the younger members of staff, however, were taken in by her and this obviously led to bad feeling.
Originally, we used our staff room as a place to “draw strength” from one another. It was a place of laughter and support, but staff became so demoralised by the head that we now spent our time in the staff room sharing how unhappy we all were. This carried on for a long time and the morale of the staff continued to decrease. It got to the point where the pupils began to notice how different their teachers were becoming. This had once been a happy and homely school but it was quickly becoming sad place with exhausted, defeated staff.
We decided that we had had enough and organised an informal meeting, which I led, so that we could discuss all the troubles we were having. When the headteacher found out, she called me into her office and tried to intimidate me, like she had done with staff before. The governors and the borough council were then involved though they chose to support the headteacher, likely due to the fact that they had appointed her.
When we had a school inspection, the inspection went to special measures and it found that “The headteacher has no relationship with the senior leadership team, the staff as a whole, nor with the pupils.” Still nothing was done to help the situation.
Eventually, myself and two other members of staff left our jobs at the school due to stress related ill health. Several months before, a number of the staff had decided to leave and get other jobs, some of which involved taking a large cut in pay, simply because they could no longer tolerate working with the headteacher. Then another four members of staff left, taking a redundancy package. All of these were staff who had been at the school for many years and had great loyalty to each other and the school.
This horrific ordeal finally came to an end when the headteacher tried to sack nine member of staff. The pupils had finally endured enough and they chose to go on strike, picketing the school until the Council eventually realised there was something seriously wrong. This was even shown on the news.
The Comprehensive school was once a happy successful school but she had turned it into a place where nobody wanted to be. The staff were then and still are very close knit, and that was the only thing that kept us going as long as we did.
I accessed the information on the Mental Health Support website about adult bullying. I wish I had known about the workplace bullying information when it was happening as I feel it could have helped me. The information on this website is very informative and useful.” – B.H.
“My experience of bullying was in the workplace. I was made to feel alone and worthless. I had a manager who was unable to support me through my role and this eventually led to me being ill. I took a look at the information about adult bullying on the Mental Health Support Website and think that it is very good. The information is empathetic and could help to support those who have or are being bullied by helping them to realise that adults who are the victims of bullies do not suffer alone.” – Anonymous
“Personally, I feel I do have one person in my life that bullies me. With their tone of voice and facial expressions. They often say they are only teasing but I feel they’re using my illness against me, to undermine me using physical intimidation. Although they seem to be making some effort I am still support for myself in the form of Women’s Aid. I am hoping I can either increase the bully’s awareness or end the relationship.
This has been contributing towards my mental health issues in quite a big way. I suffer with low self esteem, anxiety and depression. This is a long term situation. It has been witnessed by a stranger and this led to action but I not been able to end the relationship. I do think the person is gradually beginning to realise that they have a problem.” – Anonymous
To read information on adult bullying on Mental Health Support click the link below
” My daughter, husband and life cause me stress, to cope I take my dog for a walk to get out of the house or I go up to my room to bed. I also ask for help from professional agencies. I have read the information on Mental Health Supports’s page on stress and the information is good. ” B.L.R.
” Family events and overdoing it cause me stress, listening to music and talking with someone I trust helps me cope. I have looked at the information on MHS’s page about stress and it is very good and get’s straight to the point. I think more coping skills and more on how to encourage a healthy life could be added to the page. ” D.J.
To view the web page How To Deal With Stress on Mental Health Support click the link below
Apple Tree Stores Focus Group 