Epsom Mental Health and Wellbeing Festival

The College played a key role in this week’s Epsom Mental Health and Wellbeing Festival, with a series of events and drop-in sessions hosted on site.

A powerful ‘Mindfulness and Mindful Motion’ session led by Darren Yap encouraged pupils to focus on how the body moves and the sensations of these movements, to achieve inner calm. The session combined gentle, relaxing movements from Tai Chi, stretching concepts from Yoga, and meditation techniques from Chi Kung and mindfulness.

Other activities included a resilience therapy observation class, a talk on social media and its effect on our health, a drop-in youth advisers stall, chess and croquet on the lawn, and landscape photography around the College grounds. Pupils were encouraged to wear a splash of yellow on World Mental Health Day as part of charity Young Minds’ wider campaign to show young people that they're not alone when it comes to their mental health.

Assistant Head of Pupil Welfare, Helen Keevil, reflected on the week of activities: “I have been overwhelmed by the willingness of the College community to embrace their involvement with this local charity Love Me Love My Mind. Year on year our whole-school approach to engage with this awareness event has increased. I have overheard members of the catering staff chat about wellbeing, clerical staff talking about happiness, teachers and pupils debating ways to stay positive, as well as the PE staff revelling in the benefits of exercise on our emotional and physical health.

“It was lovely to witness our students hosting members of the public in their own environment, observing their pride and pleasure to share what we do here on campus. I am truly grateful to everyone for playing their part, and the following on social media has been most encouraging too.”