Thursday 7th February saw staff and students from West College Scotland band together to support Time to Talk Day – a national initiative aimed at encouraging people to talk about their mental health.
With a ‘Wow Walk’ and a tea, coffee and information stand at each of our three campuses, as well as a cuppa and chat session in our Clydebank campus library, the staff of West College Scotland were out in force to ensure that their support didn’t go unnoticed. Kirsty MacEwan, the Student Wellbeing Advisor at West College Scotland, coordinated the day and was assisted by the Students’ Association and Joy McLean, who is a Librarian at our Clydebank campus.
Many members of staff, and students, gave up their free time over lunch to join the Wow Walk, and Kirsty incorporated the Pass the Badge scheme in order to emphasise the importance of mental health and looking out for one another. All participants were provided with a ‘See Me’ badge and encouraged to pass the badge on to another person and start a chat about mental health. Whether this is a simple “how are you?” or a more complex conversation, the badges aim to break the stigma of mental health and to create communities where talking about mental health is the norm.
Clydebank, Greenock and Paisley all had a tea, coffee and information stand situated in a prominent area around campus. The purpose of this stand was to provide information to those who may need it, and also to get people talking about mental health and Time to Talk Day. Visitors to the stand were offered free tea and coffee, which was also on offer at Joy’s cuppa and chat session at the Clydebank campus library. Joy was proud to be a part of such an important initiative, saying:
Our mental health is just as important as our physical health. The idea behind the ‘cuppa and a chat’ session was to provide some support without any added pressure. It was great to talk to students and other members of staff both over a cuppa and on the Wow walk.
Kirsty was delighted to be able to get involved in both the Time to Talk campaign and the Pass the Badge campaign, and to incite conversations surrounding mental health around all three campuses. She says of the day:
One thing that really struck me about the day is that it really is good to talk and how much we all have in common! We all worry, feel anxious or stressed, but by chatting about it, we gain greater understanding of each other and our own mental health.
Nicole Percival, President of the Students’ Association, agrees that taking part in Time to Talk Day was a positive step towards normalising conversations about mental health:
I believe it was a great event to reduce the stigma of mental health. Having both staff and students enjoying a walk together was a good source of support and a great way of breaking down the barriers that students may feel are in their way.
A big thank you goes to Kirsty, Joy and our Students’ Association team for supporting such a worthy cause and for ensuring that Time to Talk day was a success at West College Scotland.
