Today we are proud to mark World Mental Health Day, an annual event organised by the World Health Organisation.
This year’s theme, set by the World Federation for Mental Health, is suicide prevention. To support this, the Mental Health Foundation has launched WAIT!, a campaign designed to help us understand that suicide prevention is something that we can all individually help with. We encourage you all to check it out. To support World Mental Health Day, we have a variety of free activities are taking place at Queen Mary today, including interactive wellbeing stalls and drop-in sessions. Full details can be found here. Of course, our mental health should not be the focus of one day in the year only. These issues can affect all of us at any time, and in fact the Mental Health Foundation estimates that in any week of the year, one in six people experience a common mental health problem. As a University and Students’ Union we are collectively committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our students and staff all year round. For our students the Students' Union 'Be Kind to your Mind' campaign offers a range of advice on wellness during life at university, and the University’s Advice and Counselling Service provides specialist, professional and confidential services to support students with financial, welfare, legal, emotional and psychological issues. The University is also a member of Big White Wall, a 24-hour online support tool for mental health and wellbeing which is available to our students and staff. And for staff, a free, confidential and independent employee assistance programme is part of a range of support services offered by the University. We hope you will join with us to support World Mental Health Day. Best wishes,
Shamima Akter Students’ Union Vice-President Welfare Professor Stephanie Marshall Vice-Principal (Education)