https://www.sunderland.ac.uk
Welcome to the roundtable event that we’ve got organised for Men’s Mental Health Day, which is the 19th of November. I’m part of the Wellbeing team and I’ve got a selection of colleagues with me today. I’m just going to ask everybody to introduce themselves. Should I start? Yeah? -Yeah. -My name’s Norman,
One of the mental health wellbeing advisors within the team. I’m Greg. I’m one of the wellbeing advisors here at Sunderland University. I help with things like anxiety, depression, low mood, and lots of other stuff as well. And I’m Stephen. I work with Wellbeing unit as a Project Shine a Light officer, basically trying
To get all the ethnic minority student closer to the services, and that’s what I do, yeah. And I’m Dave. I’m one of the counsellors here that works at the university on the Wellbeing team. I want to start the discussion off by asking, what would be a really good way to engage men
In mental health? I think we’re difficult, right? We’re difficult to engage in different services. It’s hard to get us into places. There’s a lot of pressure that men have on from other men themselves and from society in itself. [Dave] Yeah, mm-hmm. So we’ve got to adapt to the situation
And getting men into us. -Yeah. -‘Cause I think it’s two to one- -Yeah. -In services. Men are the one in that. 36%, I think, likely to engage compared -to women. -It’s that conversation, isn’t it? The start of a conversation. How does that conversation begin? Well, I think that’s really important.
-Yeah. -I think part of the conversation has to be around men come in lots of different identities, -lots of different roles. -Yeah. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And I think it’s really important that we kind of deconstruct some of that and have that plurality in terms of what we mean by men as well.
Because often, we may have one aspect of that. And I think that’s sometimes not necessarily helpful as well. -Yeah, yeah. -Yeah. For me, I would say we should try to identify each individual for their personality and see what might come across as interesting to them to talk about. [Dave] Mm-hmm.
Yeah, what platform are we meeting them? [Dave] Yeah. So creating that sense of belonging, that sense of environment that really makes them want to talk. Yeah, so I think we just begin with identifying each individual as one for the personality. Do you think it’s tricky? Do you think it’s like… Absolutely, yeah.
Some men like to do it one-on-one. -Mm-hmm, yeah. -Some men like to do it in groups. I think, again, it’s the individual that wants to do it. Men are more likely to come online -for online support again. -Yeah, yeah. But that’s because, are we less willing
To talk about our issues and talk about our problems? Mm-hmm. And I think there is cause in that ’cause there is a reluctance to appear vulnerable. [Dave] Yeah, yeah. And again, that may be cultural, -that may be societal. -Yeah, yeah. But that may be as an individual as well. -Yeah. -You don’t want
To be perceived to have any sort of weakness. Now you can go into long-term historically, is that how we are brought up, not to be weak? -Yeah. -To be strong mentally? Yeah. To be that person, to be the provider? And then asking for help, asking support.
Is that going against what we’re brought up -to do? -So are you saying it’s like a toxic cloak of masculinity, and what we’re trying to do is, is to perhaps take that cloak off and so you can be -who you want to be? -Yeah, yeah. But I guess that comes with challenges
In terms of like, how do we as a service, how do we as a university make it inclusive, make it accessible? -Mm-hmm. -If you’re referring to some of the issues about low take-up of services, which is kind of universal. I think it’s mirrored -on the outer wider society- -Mm-hmm, yeah. As well-
-It is, yeah. -In terms of like less males accessing GP practise, less males accessing counselling, -et cetera, et cetera. -Mm-hmm, yeah. I mean, there could be some environmental factors as well. If you think about families that grow up in a masculine sort of, -predominantly masculine. -Environment. -Yeah. -That message of boys don’t cry.
Personally, I grew up with that stuff, you know? [Norman] Yeah. And I found it difficult. Getting older, that message is quite a strong message. Is that something that you’ve- Yeah. That you’ve experienced? You saying that, I can relate with that very well. [Dave] Yeah. From the background that we come from
And where it’s like abnormal to see a male child cry. [Dave] Uh-huh. Yeah. -Yeah. -It’s really abnormal to see a male child complain about things that regular girl child would complain about. [Dave] Mm-hmm. -Mm-hmm. -So yeah, so the stigma to men breaking down, really expressing themselves emotionally, the challenge is there,
And everyone is raised to be tough or strong, -yeah, dominant. -Yeah. It’s interesting what you’re saying there, Stephen. So you’re talking about the language as well, how to express ourselves. Yeah. Depending on one’s vocabulary, they might not have that emotional vocabulary in terms of like the right words- -Words to say. -To convey
The right emotions- -Yeah. -Mm-hmm. If I haven’t been brought up in that environment. So I think something like World Mental Health Day, -it’s very much about that. -Yeah, yeah. It’s about bring it to the fore- [Stephen] Yeah. And finding ways of having conversations with your friends, family, whoever, your workplace colleagues, about it.
So it’s one special day, but it shouldn’t just rest -within one day. -Yeah. I mean, that’s a really good point. I mean, that takes me on to my next point of asking, what is Men’s Mental Health Day? What’s it all about? Yeah? I think Men’s Mental Health Day,
It’s a really positive message, isn’t it? -Yeah. -It’s about getting people to engage into the service, about getting men to talk about, whatever way that is- -Mm-hmm. -To each other -or to services. -Yeah. Whatever they like, whatever they prefer. Mm-hmm. And it is, it’s because we’re a hidden minority in mental health services.
Yeah. And I know there’s different minorities even within that if you’re talking about GBT people and different ethnic minorities as well. There’s something that needs to be looked at and something where we need to learn how to engage with men. And I think World Mental Health Day is doing that,
Is shining a light almost on what we need to do to help men. Yeah, good. Yeah, I think that’s really important because I think one of the elephants in the room, which we haven’t really talked about yet, is around suicide. [Dave] Right. Because that’s one of the big things the campaign’s around
And it’s around, how do we reduce some of that unfortunate fatalities in terms of suicide. [Dave] Yeah. And I think that’s a focus that the university keenly wants to address. So we’re part of the Zero Suicide Alliance. -Yeah, yeah. -And we’re part of Suicide Prevention Alliances. So on different levels within the university,
There’s a lot of policies and actual resources put in in terms of reducing our suicides. [All] Yeah. Speaking of suicide, I just check up a couple of datas and I realised that about over 5,000, 5,500-plus suicide rates in UK for the past couple of years. [Greg] Mm-hmm.
And 3/4 of this data shows that men are really the majority of the numbers. -Yeah. -So it’s really quite- -Yeah. -Alarming to see that men are going through a lot and- It’s a staggering amount, isn’t it? The society’s not really giving so much attention to it. [Dave] Uh-huh. Yeah, so.
And I think connected to that as well, Stephen, is that within local areas, in geographical areas, I think the Northeast has got one -of the high levels- -Yeah, mm-hmm, -yeah, yeah. -Of hotspots in suicide as well. It increases when poverty’s around. -Yeah. -So I think that’s what it’s hard to do
-with demographics. -Different class, isn’t it? -Absolutely. -Age. -Age is huge. -That’s a big thing. I think it’s 40 to 50. That age range for suicide is huge in men. But I think you can look at a life cycle then as well. At that age, that can be when families have broken down,
Where men are becoming more isolated. And I think that’s a big key in the suicide rates as well- -Absolutely. -The lack of support -and the lack of accessing it. -Yeah. It is also around young people as well. So young men are featured highly as well. -Mm-hmm. -And I think it’s largely
Around today’s society is I think we’re living like a consumer capitalist society in so far as you’re defined by what you do, and I would say arguably by what you earn. And therefore, I think for a lot of men, if they’re not got a job or they’re struggling
In terms of like finding out what they’re going to do in life- -Yeah. -Or if their experience changes along the, as you say, the life cycle, I think that can lead to crises. -Mm-hmm. -Yeah. And I think it’s, again, connected to that toxic kind of masculine role and identity as the breadwinner.
-Mm-hmm. -And I think- -Oh, yeah. -Society’s morphed. -Yeah. -It’s changed from there, but it’s like, -how do we manage- -Yeah, yeah. -That transition? -Uh-huh. So thinking about that in terms of how… Do men approach mental health differently? Do you think different people… How do you think men- [Norman] Yeah. Approach mental health differently?
[Norman] Can I just share -a personal experience? -Yeah, yeah. When I was a teenager, I had significant anxiety. And for some reason, I didn’t access it. [Dave] Uh-huh. And I think, one, I perhaps didn’t know where the service was. [Dave] Mm-hmm. And secondly, perhaps it’s that sense of like,
Oh, gosh, I have to cope on my own- -Yeah, yeah. -And do it. [Dave] Yeah. You know? So that’s just a personal experience. But also, working professionally with men, I’ve seen that. Once they come in a room, it’s still that stigma. It’s still that fear of what’s going to happen. Yeah.
See, for me, I had suffered with stress absolutely massively when I was a teacher, and I did not access support until I feel now looking backwards on it that it was too late at that time to do that. And I think men do that. We will put off. We don’t need support.
I don’t need to access that support. And we’ll find a lot then reaching men at maybe even the beyond point at that time when they’re in crisis. -Yeah. -Because you think as a man, I can do this. -Uh-huh, yeah. -I’ve got this all the time. I don’t need anyone else to help me.
I don’t need to rely. And you’ll take on all those problems. You’ll take that weight on your shoulders. What about peer pressure? Do you think there’s in the workplace? You think the different STEM jobs, different male-orientated workforces, do you think there’s… Not so much in the jobs -that I’ve been involved in. -Right.
Not so much in the teaching, not so much in the probation service that was in as well. And I would say the services that I were in were more female-dominated, though, than male-dominated. -Right. -So it would be interesting to hear that from a more male-dominated environment. -Right. -Because I perceive
The pressures would be there. Coming from the probation service, though, there was a different pressure there. As a man in that, I wasn’t allowed to work with women. Male probation officers are not allowed to work with women because we’re seen as their stress, we’re seen as their pressure,
We’re seen as the augment of their reality of crime. -Mm. -Mm-hmm. Where it’s not seen the other way around as that, so women are allowed to work with men. So it’s interesting the different pressures that we have within those working environments. And how often, looking at that, that is how men are perceived.
[Norman] Yeah. As the results of trauma, -as the perpetrators- -Yeah, -yeah. -Of trauma to others. [Norman] Uh-huh. What about a traditional role of a man? Do you think that’s like still around, the male traditional role? -I would say- -What do you think, Stephen? Yeah, it’s something that we find very difficult
To get over, like the gender assignment, the gender role-play a man has to… The fact that a man… The word, man, itself. Yeah, man up. Come on, be a man. [Dave] Yeah. -Yeah, yeah, yeah. -Yeah, so the word itself indicate like maybe strength, dominance. [Dave] Yeah. Power. [Dave] Yeah. Hero. [Dave] Mm-hmm.
So when you see the perception of people to the word, man, then it rings a bell in your head like, do you really want to live up to that or you want to be something less? [Dave] Mm-hmm. But now, we are sitting here and we’re trying to really make people understand
That it’s okay for you to be a man and still struggle. [Greg] Mm-hmm. -Yeah, yeah. -Yeah, it’s okay for you to be a man and not be masculine- -Yeah. -Not be fierce, -not be strong. -Mm-hmm, -yeah. -Yeah. And it’s okay to seek help as well, isn’t it? Yeah, I’m struggling, and it’s fine,
And I’m going to seek help, and it’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s quite good to do that. [Greg] Yeah. So in your practise, are you finding that that message is getting through? Or what do you think? -Do you think it is? -No. I find it’s… Well, in practise, it can be,
But I think the world is to its own. You’re getting a lot of pressure from social media on young students who are coming in. And you have people, I’m not going to mention their specific names, but who are saying to men, “No, you do need to be manly. You need to be strong.
You need to follow these guidelines. You need to kind of rule the roost in your house.” Which is a heck of a lot of pressure- [Norman] A lot of pressure. For any man coming along to doing that. And again, you’re being told what to do. [Dave] Mm-hmm. Which is that,
In the terms of what we want as masculinity, is that what we want is being manly, being told what to do by other people? Or do we want to accept it as we can be ourselves? Speaking of social media, earlier, I seen a post on Instagram today,
And the man just wanted to be a stay-at-home dad. And the society was, the family were like, “Oh.” ‘Cause where I come from, Nigeria- [Dave] Yeah. When you see a man that has really accepted to be a stay-at-home dad, to clean the house- [Dave] Yeah. Take care of the kids, it’s more like,
Oh, your wife is controlling you. -Ah, yeah, yeah. -And your wife is… You’re under some kind of spell and you’ve been enchanted, and you have to do the wife’s bid. And it’s not necessarily like that. Well, and the reality of that, what’s the reality of that? It could be what?
The reality is the man just always feel protected around the woman. The woman has been the protector from- [Dave] Yeah. From way back as university. ‘Cause when I read through the story, it did refer to when they met at the university,
And how he was being bullied and the wife stood up for him. So he just accepted his own fate, like, “Oh, this is who I am. And I like the fact that my wife is my protector.” Yeah. “And I’m okay with it.” But the society tends -to feel different about that. -Yeah.
Yes, and that’s why I think, in terms of practise, uncloaking identities, first of all, just who are you as a human- -Yeah, yeah. -Is really important. -Yeah. -So allow the person to convey who they are, and that might come in lots of different roles and identities, and that’s the important part.
So rather than having an assumption, it’s just like enabling that person to tell their story. -It’s really important. -Mm-hmm, yeah, yeah. Before we come here for this, I was really running Greg through the experience of our students, -international male students- -Right. And how they come in,
The kind of different challenges they come in with, leaving their good jobs, the good life back in wherever they’re coming from, understanding because their wife want them to move out, they want a good life for their kids. -Yeah. -And they have to move down to the UK to study.
And that moment, we kind of identify they’re automatically in a state of stress, and which can either lead to, if it’s well-managed, can be positive, but if it’s not well-managed, can lead to depression, anxiety, and from there, escalate to suicide ideation and be the worst of it. So that’s, again, highlighting the issues
In terms of transitions, whether it’s starting university, leaving university, trying to juggle university life with jobs, and parent, have care responsibility someone may have. And I think that’s a real challenge for each and everyone, isn’t it? -Yeah, yeah. -Yeah, you know it’s so. So with the work that we do in our team,
What do you think needs to be done further maybe to improve? Or how can we put ourselves out there to sort of support men more? I would say from a teamer point, we try to get a good mix -of the demographics- -Yeah, yeah. And gender in our team- -Yeah. -So it’s visible.
-Yeah. -Okay. -And accessible- -So visibility as well, -yeah. -Visibility is really important. -Yeah. -Accessibility in terms of like trying to get the information out there, how you do that- -Yeah, yeah. -And hitting different demographics is something that we’re really trying to do- -Yeah, yeah. -Be more creative about. What do you think, Greg?
Yeah, I think it is. I think we do quite a lot already. -Yeah. -I don’t know if it’s seen. Yeah. I mentioned earlier that, look, online is really important to men. Sometimes actually seeking support, you generally want to do it your first self- -Yeah. -When you first do it.
So we’ve got things like Silvercloud and Togetherall that are absolutely run online that people can get support with as well while they’re going through, -especially with Silvercloud. -Yeah. You can get Silvercloud coaching. Are they like free and accessible? How… They’re absolutely free, yeah. So the university’s paid into these schemes.
Now Silvercloud itself is something that’s NHS-based. So normally, you’d have to go to your GP for it. -Ah. -But every single student and staff member has access to this. Yeah. It’s wonderful. It’s fantastic. It’s something I use on a daily basis when I’m working with people. But people can engage with it themselves.
-Mm-hmm. -Mm-hmm. And I think as men that’s often what we think. Again, I said before, we want to help ourselves at first. -Mm-hmm. -Mm-hmm. And you know what, it is a starting point. -It is. -Yeah. But I think it’s important for us to actually tell them, “Look, you’ve got more than that.
-There is more to this.” -Yes. -Yeah. -“You’ve got other people helping you.” -Yeah. -“You’ve got other people supporting you.” And again, we are difficult to engage in that because once they’ve done that, people go, “Right, I’ve fixed myself.” -Yeah. -“I’ve looked at that. -I’ve done it.” -Yeah. -Yeah. -“I’ve completed it.”
But actually, knowing the reality, -that’s not going to happen. -Yeah, -uh-huh. -These things can come round in cycles -and can come on again. -Yeah. I think it’s like an African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Yeah. So it’s all right to do some of the self-help stuff-
-Yeah. -But there’s also -support there as well. -Yeah. Whether that’s in the university or in primary care or other services, like Mind, Samaritans. -Yeah. -Yeah, yeah. Your GP. There’s a whole plethora of services out there -that someone could access. -Yeah. And we’ve got a really good targeted campaign going on
For the whole of November. [Greg] Yeah. Which focuses on different aspects of mental health, men’s mental health. And everybody’s welcome to get involved in that. And you mentioned something about staff earlier on. And the male staff, or any staff members in the university, the support for staff members,
And that is through the counselling service. So we’re available as support. -Mm-hmm, yeah. -For me, I think we’re leaving something out, and it’s really something positive about what we’re doing so far. And that’s the fact that we have a men’s group, and- -Yeah. -I was just going to ask- -Yeah. (chuckles) -Yeah.
There’s two, isn’t there? There’s a staff one. -There is, yeah. -There’s a staff one that’s just started a few weeks ago, and that’s going really well, apparently. It’s really, really like- Yeah. Because I like the fact that we’re trying to bring up like video game session. [Dave] Yeah.
It’s on a Wednesday at one o’clock, and it’s just a general talking group -that we do, isn’t it? -It is, yeah. It’s fantastic. -Yeah. -But the way men engage is different. And men like to do things -as well, don’t we? -Yeah. -Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. -We don’t necessarily just sit and have a general chat.
[Dave] Yeah. You don’t go out for coffees normally as much- -Oh, yeah, you do. -I still do, as much with friends as you find that women will. -Yeah. -So men like to go and they like to play games together. They like to play cards together, -video games- -Yeah, yeah.
Whatever it is, and then the conversations flow. [Norman] Mm-hmm. -And the conversation- -In fact- -Isn’t part of it. -You can get -good conversations. -It is, yeah. Yes, because people don’t know that they’re talking at that point. So it’s their mind is away from that. -Uh-huh. -And they’ve discussed things more freely. [Dave] Mm-hmm.
And you’ll understand more -and you’ll get more from them- -Yeah. When you’re doing that with men. Yeah, so the group is there. And something I can really appreciate again is the Friendship Evening ’cause- -Ah, right, yeah, yeah. -Yeah, I’ve been attending. I think the chaplain is really doing good with that.
-Yeah. -And I’ve attended a couple -of- -Is that a Wednesday evening, -is it? -Yeah. -Yeah. -Wednesday evenings, -we get into- -Seven to nine, -isn’t it? -Yeah. You get to play some games, board games- -Yeah. -And yeah, talk. ‘Cause you still do pizza? -I think you used to do pizza. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Used to, I don’t know. -Yeah. -Yeah. -And some of that is still part of what the SU organised, the Five-a-Side Tournament. Yeah, and I just… I had play last week. So it’s not just… It’s a whole ecosystem- -Yeah. -Of support in the university, isn’t it, -with different services. -The Students’ Union, yeah. Yeah. But that’s what’s important, too,
Your mental health, isn’t it? Yeah. It’s not just the common access social support. It’s not just one thing. It’s my mental health support predominantly, but it’s go and access friendship groups. -Mm-hmm. -Yeah, yeah. Go and access financial support. -Yeah. -Go and access disability support. Go and access -progression support. -Yeah.
There’s so many support networks here- [Dave] Yeah, mm-hmm. -For people to engage into- -Yeah. That people don’t immediately realise because they don’t go out -and seek these things. -Mm, yeah. Yeah. So it is, it’s really good that these groups are available. And you know what?
One of the best ways to advertise is word of mouth. [Dave] Yeah. And we found that with the men’s group -as well. -Yeah, we did. That’s right. -Yeah. -Men bring other men in. [Dave] Bringing other people in. I find the sports teams will do that as well.
They’ve got wellbeing champions from the SU. And I think that’s a great way- -Yeah, yeah. -To engage with men, and say, “Actually, no, -we’re here for each other.” -Yeah. -“We’re here to support.” -Yeah, yeah. [Greg] And people are more likely to engage and talk because of that.
In the groups that we’ve been running on the Wednesday, the numbers are growing, aren’t they? -They are growing. -Oh, it is, yeah. And it does feel like a really protected space. -Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. -That’s what I feel from it. [Norman] Mm-hmm. Like when all they go get together and they’re all pinching the donuts.
-Yes. -Yeah, yeah. It does feel like a protected time. Protected and safe. -It does. -Yeah. As in we’re all lads together. -Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. -We’re all chatting away. -Yeah. -But it does feel… It does feel like a good space. And the conversation’s not just about mental health, -is it? -No, it’s not.
That’s right, yeah, which is important. -Yeah, yeah. -Absolutely important. I mean, we were talking films- -Yeah. -And video games last week. Video games, yeah. So it’s seeing the person in this holistic view, -isn’t it? -Yeah, yeah. -Yeah. -But it makes us, I think, seem more approachable as well.
-Yeah. -I’ve had people in that come -to me- -Yeah. And talk about their mental health issues -afterwards- -Yeah. And then had sessions with them afterwards- -Yeah. -Because of what they’ve been at in the men’s group. And again, that’s for men. Seeing that safety is really important. So I mean, Dave and I-
-Yeah. -We’ll suddenly be seen as, “Oh, actually, they’re just blokes. -I can go and talk to them.” -“Yeah, just go -and have a chat with them.” -“And they’re not mental health professionals.” -Yeah, yeah. -In that sense that’s not a barrier. It’s like getting over that barrier, isn’t it?
It’s breaking down the barrier by approach -that’s quite different. -Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the month, November month, I want to stress that it’s a month to get involved for men with the different events that are on. [Norman] Mm-hmm. It’s every Wednesday.
I mean, you have to look out on the website for the dates. But it’s every Wednesday in the afternoon. There’s something different. I want to encourage people to come along- [Dave] Yeah. And get involved. Tips, advice? Anybody got any for blokes that you try to engage in or?
Yeah, I just want to share part of my experience on the conference, I think, on Saturday. “Community, Men, and Trauma,” that’s a conference, and it was really impactful, and I did realise a lot about men’s mental health. There were panel discussion about intersections of men from, basically, it was Black,
So intersection between the sexualities, the gay Black men, the Black queer men, the LGBT men and all that. They shared their lived experiences and the kind of advice on going forward, what they think can be done better, yeah. And more like it is men that has been,
Black men that has been on maybe mental health detention, institution, and all of that. And now they’re out of the system and they’re trying to start over again, their experiences, and how difficult they’re finding starting all over again. And because the stigma still remains. [Dave] Yes, yeah.
Yeah, the stigma remains and it keeps them from really accessing maybe jobs, good jobs, keeps them from accessing maybe a union like this -they would want to be part of. -‘Cause I think it’s interesting you say because in terms of Black men -and Black men in LGBT-plus- -Yeah. -Yeah. -Is they’re often some
Of the most marginalised ones. And what that conference, I imagine, was about, it’s like talking about it, being able to have that forum, that medium to like express oneself, but also making services such that they can. Access as well is really important because, when you were saying before, Greg,
There’s a whole range of different identities in marginalised groups. Yeah. And I think it’s about, how can we therefore be creative? So one of my tips is early intervention. Whatever it is you’re struggling with, just really try to find someone, an ally. [Greg] Mm-hmm.
It doesn’t have to be someone who’s like a professional. -No. -It could be your mate. It could be a family member. -Yeah. -Could be someone in the university who’s security, could be anyone out there just to talk. -Yeah, yeah. -It’s good to talk and get out there early, I would say.
-That’s one of my tips. -Yeah. Being able to admit vulnerability is, in fact, an incredible strength to be able to do that. To say, to look, to ask, “I need help.” On a professional level, we do it every day. We’d say, “Oh, I’ve got this to do. I’ve got this little problem.”
I’d go and find some sort -of expert to help me. -Expert. -Mm-hmm. -Yeah. But that doesn’t necessarily help when people have the mental health issues. They kind of internalise those things. So I’d say try not to do that. Seek that support. Seek that help. And that is true strength in doing that-
[Dave] Yeah, yeah. To ask for help. Yeah. How do they ask Wellbeing then? How do they come into Wellbeing for help? Route in? -Yeah? -Oh, God, lots of routes. So you can self-refer, for example, -on our website. -Uh-huh, yeah. You can walk in. So we have physical locations- -Yeah. -At St. Peter’s
And at City Campus. [Dave] Yeah. Monday to Friday, nine to five. [Dave] Yeah. Similarly, we have out-of-hours service as well between 6:30 in the evening and 6:30 in the morning where if you need to speak to one of our colleagues in that team and they can help with in terms of like accessing.
But as you say, one of the good ones is online. Do you want to say a bit -about that? -Yeah. Yeah, no, Silvercloud’s absolutely fantastic. So you can access Silvercloud anytime you want. Yeah. Anytime you want online. But also, we do other things with Silvercloud. I mentioned coaching before.
So if someone needs a bit more support throughout that, they can get a practitioner, like myself or like one of my colleagues. Oh, so you could do like give them a call, one-to-one, -talk them through- -Absolutely. -That sort of thing. -Yeah. -Yeah. -And you know what? It’s not straightforward for everyone.
[Dave] Right, yeah. And some people prefer it that way as well. Some people say, “Actually, I need to talk -through these things-” -Yeah, -yeah. -“I’m working through. I can have a look at my journal that I’m working on through.” -Yeah. -“And can we talk -about these things?” -Yeah.
And I can lead them into other parts of Silvercloud. ‘Cause Silvercloud itself is like a treasure trove- -(chuckles) Yeah. -Of different help and different support bits that are in it. [Dave] Yeah. But yeah, you can get absolutely online. I think that’s important, isn’t it? Because it’s that stigma
Of offering someone an online service and then letting them go away and do it. Yeah. How often are they going to say, “Oh, it’s just an online”? Yeah. That support’s fantastic where you can actually work through it with them, talk them through it, sign them up,
And then point them in the right direction. And I’d like to say with our service as well that, in any part of it, you can request, because I think now we have men in every single part of it, you can request a man. All right. -Yeah. -And I think that’s
A very important thing to offer- -Yeah, that is. -A very safe thing for everyone to have that we’ve got male counsellors, we’ve got wellbeing support- -Yeah. -We’ve got mental health support as well. [Norman] Mm-hmm. -Mm-hmm. -Which is important when engaging into a service because not everywhere, from what we’ve worked through
And what we’ve experienced beforehand, can offer that just with staffing levels. -Yeah. -Mm-hmm. Just to emphasise a little on Project Shine a Light, which is what I represent, Project Shine a Light is actually an opportunity to bridge the gap between other ethnic minority student,
So from it could be Africa, both home and international. It could be from Africa, it could be from Asia, could be from the Gypsy, Traveller, the Boatmen, the Caribbean, and all sorts of- [Dave] Yeah. Other ethnic minority to really know that the services is available for them- [Dave] Yeah. To access.
And if they find any doubt with you, they can speak to me. [Greg] Mm-hmm. They can get in touch, and I’ll refer them to wonderful people in the team. And just to build the trust with student from all these backgrounds- -Yeah. -And reassure them again that the university is doing so much
-to provide. -Brilliant. Yeah, yeah. -Sounds brilliant. -Good, yeah. So I just want to say thank you to my colleagues for turning up for this discussion today. It’s been very informative. And just a message to everyone that’s watching. If you are struggling right now and you need some support right now,
Come and speak to us at Wellbeing. Don’t stay with it. Don’t let it sit. Don’t sit on your hands with it. Come and speak to us.