Heartbeat: Library service joined forces with partners to raise awareness of World Mental Health Day
October 22, 2018
Our library service team worked in partnership with local organisations to mark World Mental Health Day by hosting a joint event to raise awareness.
Preeti Puligari, Library and Knowledge Service Manager and Nicola Ager, Service Development Librarian, visited Oldbury Library on Wednesday 10 October, where they showcased the help available to sufferers of mental health conditions.
The team, along with Sandwell Public Libraries and the Black Country Partnership NHS foundation Trust (BCPFT), organised drop-in sessions to show visitors how to look for reliable information and be aware of how to access the right help.
The event was part of a national campaign, organised by Public Health England.
Preeti said: “We were delighted to be working with Sandwell Public Libraries and BCPFT to run this much-needed event.
“Mental health is such an important aspect of wellbeing. By working with our partners, we hope that more people will be aware of mental health issues and seek the right help
“As well as hosting drop-in sessions on the day, visitors had the opportunity to learn how to access evidence-based websites, such as Patient UK and the NHS website. Kaleidoscope Plus, one of our partners, was also at the event talking to the public about stress and how to deal with it.”
There were also interactive workshops where two mental health experts from BCPFT, offered advice on how to cope with depression.
Jean Fenn, Oldbury Town Library Manager, added: “We were pleased to work in partnership with Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust to organise this great event. It has been such a great collaboration and we look forward to working with the Trust in the future to make a positive difference to our local community.”
Chief Executive, Toby Lewis, came along to show his support. He praised the event and vowed to make sure mental health is not treated as a stigma. He said: “Mental health is so important. Lots of our staff, lots of our patients and lots of us in our lives will have issues with mental health.
“We want to make sure that this is not a stigma and we want to make sure we can talk about it and we can get the right kind of support targeted at people.
“This is all about joining up connections across our community on World Mental Health Day, but also every day of the year.”