Spalding wellness and welfare activities weekend proves a hit at hall

Almost 400 people took part in wellbeing activites at Ayscoughfee Hall.

Two days of calming crafts and relaxing exercises drew 360 visitors to the Spalding venue for the event, organised by South Holland District Council as part of SHout About Wellbeing Week.

The events, last Thursday and Saturday (May 17 and 19), were also organised to align with National Mental Health Awareness week.

Participants were able to get information about a wide range services to support mental health, including drop-in support from local mental health support group Safe Places.

Ruby and William White try their hand at mosaic-making.

They could also find out about self-care and stress management, and try activities for reducing stress and maintaining wellbeing.

These included calming crafts, holistic therapies, mindfulness, guided relaxation, yoga, muscle relaxing exercise, gardening and music.

Coun Gary Taylor, South Holland Council Portfolio Holder for Community and Facilities said the focus of Mental Health Awareness Week this year was stress: “Research from the Mental Health Foundation has shown that over the past year, almost three quarters (74 per cent) of people surveyed at some point felt so stressed they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope,” he said.

“If we can help people to take care of themselves and manage their stress levels, we can prevent some of the serious mental health problems which have a huge impact on both families and health and social care services in our communities.”

Heidi Willson gives a participant a trial beauty treatment.

SHout and About Quest is funded by Leisure in the Community and South Holland District Council. It runs until July 1. People can still sign up to take part in the free activities and win great prizes.
One of the organisers was Vanessa Browning of the charity Tonic Health.

She said: “It really was a wonderful weekend and it was great to get more than 300 people through the doors.

“We couldn’t have been luckier with the weather which meant we had a number of people pop in who hopefully tried out something new and had fun during their visit.”

The next SHout and About event is the Train Like a Jedi evening at Peele Leisure Centre, Long Sutton, on Friday (May 25).

A whole lot of rhythm and no blues at the drum circle.