Now We're Talking
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The Now We’re Talking campaign brings together local partners across Herefordshire and Worcestershire to raise awareness of mental health support, from tips to maintain good mental health, support if you’re feeling stresses, anxious or depressed, to urgent help in a crisis.
In opening the conversation about mental health and wellbeing, and the importance of reaching out for help when you need it, the campaign hopes to also reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.
Anyone can experience feeling low, anxious, worried or depressed, and it is completely normal, but it is also important to reach out for support when it starts to impact what we do and who we are.
If you would like further information about the Now We’re Talking campaign and how you could get involved, please contact meagan.walker@nhs.net
You can also download digital and printable resources here
Local mental health support you can access
I want to keep a healthy mind
Self-help guides
The NHS have produced a range of self-help guides that can be viewed as a PDF or an audio version. To view the guides please visit the self-help guides bookshelf (opens in new window).
Relaxation techniques
Exploring relaxation can help you look after yourself when you're feeling stressed or worried. Why not try these relaxation routines and see how relaxation can fit into your daily life? Listen to the audio guides here.
SilverCloud online therapy
SilverCloud courses are designed to help you improve and maintain your wellbeing by changing the way you think and feel about things.
There are several free courses to pick from including positive body image, panic, covid-19, depression, anxiety, stress and many more.
All you need is access to the internet and sound on a computer, tablet or mobile. The programme is flexible so you can use it anytime, anyplace, and anywhere. They feature videos, activities, quizzes, audio guides and your own online journal. Find out more on the SilverCloud website page.
Every Mind Matters
Expert advice and practical tips to help you look after your mental health and wellbeing. Visit the Every Mind Matters website.
Here2Help (if you live in Worcestershire)
Here2Help is a service that offers support for people of all ages. It includes information, advice, tools, guidance and local support available in the local community.
Talk Community (if you live in Herefordshire)
Talk Community is helping residents, businesses, community leaders and our council to make Herefordshire a better place to live and work.
Podcasts
Podcasts can be a really good way of relaxing the mind, listen to features, interviews and a number of people involved in mental health, including people have experience mental health difficulties, campaigners and mental health experts. To find out more visit the podcast resources page.
I’m struggling and have been for a couple of weeks
NHS Support
Self-refer to healthy minds
Our Healthy Minds team are trained and experienced in supporting a wide range of more common mental health issues. Mostly this involves ‘talking therapy’ approaches. Talking therapy could involve group discussion, or more traditional 1:1 sessions. We also provide online courses which the team can guide you through. To find out more about the service and self-refer visit the service webpage.
Qwell
Free mental wellbeing support including online chat and forums. www.qwell.io
GP
Visit your GP practice team to discuss the best options for you, including access to specialist services.
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Wellbeing and Recovery College
Courses and workshops to give people the tools, skills and understanding that they need for their own wellbeing and recovery. Visit the Recovery College website here.
Employment support (part of the Healthy Minds service)
Mental Health Matters are working in partnership with Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust to provide employment related support to individuals who are accessing Healthy Minds.
I need urgent advice
Urgent NHS mental health helpline
Call the free local NHS urgent mental health helpline 0808 196 9127 if you need advice and support quickly. (24 hours a day 365 days a year).
Call 999
For free, if you are seriously injured, have taken an overdose or if there is an immediate risk to life.
MIND: www.mind.org.uk
Samaritans freephone: 116-123
Shout: Text “SHOUT” to 85258
Other local and national support
Other local support
The little book of mental health
The little book of mental health is a practical guide for everyday emotional wellbeing produced by Worcestershire County Council.
Herefordshire Mind
We are Herefordshire’s local mental health charity. Our aim is that no one in Herefordshire should have to face a mental health problem alone. Please feel free to get in touch with us anytime. https://herefordshire-mind.org.uk/
Springfield Mind
Springfield Mind is the leading mental health charity for South Warwickshire and Worcestershire. https://springfieldmind.org.uk/
The CLD Trust (if you live in Herefordshire)
Our counselling staff are all professionally trained and qualified and have significant experience and specialisms. We are able to offer a variety of counselling therapy including brief sessional therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), solution focused therapy, specialist substance misuse and systemic family practice. Find out more on their charity website: https://www.thecldtrust.org/the-cld-trust/
The Cart Shed (if you live in Herefordshire)
Providing activities such as woodwork, coppicing, gardening and cooking can all have an emotionally healing effect. A non-clinical setting helping individuals address and overcome issues they may be finding difficult to self-manage. To find out more visit the Cart Shed website: https://www.thecartshed.co.uk/about
Simply Limitless (if you live in Worcestershire)
The charity provides support to people of all ages in the community with their mental, social and physical health. https://www.simply-limitless.org/
Onside Advocacy
Onside provide a range of support and services to ensure fairness and equality for adults who may be vulnerable, disadvantaged or discriminated against. This includes mental and physical ill health, sensory impairment, learning disability, drug and alcohol misuse, older people, and carers. https://www.onside-advocacy.org.uk/
Community First
Community First is at the forefront of sustainable, robust community development in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. We specialise in providing high quality advice and support to community groups and organisations, to help them grow and meet the needs of the communities they serve. https://www.comfirst.org.uk/home
Active
We are a vibrant, independent organisation committed to improving the lives of people in Herefordshire & Worcestershire through the power of physical activity and sport. https://www.activehw.co.uk/
West Mercia Women’s aid
WMWA works for a world that is free from domestic abuse and violence against women and girls, where everyone can live without the fear and reality of all forms of violence, abuse and discrimination. https://www.westmerciawomensaid.org/
Relate counselling
Relationship Counselling and Sex Therapy in Worcestershire and Herefordshire. https://www.relate.org.uk/hereford-worcester
Worcestershire Association of carers
The home of support for all unpaid carers in and around Worcestershire. https://www.carersworcs.org.uk/
Drug and Alcohol Support
Worcestershire: https://cranstoun.org/help-and-advice/alcohol-other-drugs/worcestershire/
Herefordshire: https://www.turning-point.co.uk/services/herefordshire
National support
Silver Line
The Silver Line is the only free confidential helpline providing information, friendship and support to older people, open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. https://www.thesilverline.org.uk/
The hub of hope
The Hub of Hope is the UK’s leading mental health support database. It is provided by national mental health charity, Chasing the Stigma, and brings local, national, peer, community, charity, private and NHS mental health support and services together in one place for the first time. https://hubofhope.co.uk/
DadPad
As a new dad you will feel excited, but you may also feel left out, unsure or overwhelmed. The DadPad can help by giving you the knowledge and practical skills that you need. The resource will support you and your partner to give your baby the best possible start in life. https://thedadpad.co.uk/
Reading Well
Reading Well is a national scheme supporting people to understand and manage their health and wellbeing using helpful reading. The books on our reading lists can be recommended by a health professional and taken free of charge from a local library, or users can self-refer and borrow the titles as they would any other library book.
Talk
Someone you know will have a mental health problem right now – a family member, your friend, your workmate. He or she just might not know how to tell you.
Being open to mental health can break down any stigma surrounding it. You don’t have to be an expert to talk and to listen, and often it’s the little things that make a big difference.
A car enthusiast who has experienced depression has set up a support network for like-minded people. Dan Pendry-Moore, from Bromsgrove, hopes Sad Boi Race Club will help fight a mental health stigma among men. The 32-year-old said his story was "very typical of most men" who "bottle up" feelings.
Support
Over the last three years the Now We’re Talking campaign has received a fantastic amount of support from a number of organisations and individuals.
We have been encouraging organisations and businesses across Herefordshire and Worcestershire to spread the message to their staff and customers. Between us we can help address the stigma wrongly attached to mental health, and to keep more people feeling well, healthy and positive.
Here are just a few of our supporters!
Joe Batley - Worcester Warriors
I am pleased to be supporting the Now We’re Talking campaign. We are in really strange times at the moment, and I would urge anyone struggling to get support. It’s really important to reach out and ask for help
Paul Cheshire, West Mercia Police
Mental health is a hidden illness, and will remain so unless we are willing to talk about it
Jon Laight, H & W Fire & Rescue service
Good mental health and well-being is just as important as eating well and keeping fit. When I recognise my stress levels are rising, I talk to friends, family and colleagues and use mindfulness to reset and refresh
Ed Chamberlin, ITV Presenter
I’m pleased to be supporting the Now We’re Talking Mental health campaign, everybody has mental health and we shouldn’t be ashamed of it, just having a conversation with a friend or family member can make such a difference, it’s ok not to be ok!
Rishi Persad, ITV Presenter
As we all know this year has been incredibly challenging for everyone. I am certain that almost all of us have had moments of worry and concern, but it’s vital to know that you are not alone. No matter who you are or what you are dealing with, we all need someone to listen and to know that there is someone wanting to know how you feel and someone that cares. That’s why I am fully behind the Now We’re Talking campaign which encourages people to reach out to Healthy Minds where you can get the support you need to help with whatever you are dealing with
Steve Goode, Chairman Worcester City Football
In the sporting community it is so important that athletes share problems not only with their physical health but also their mental health. As a community we not only support our local team but individuals who sometimes just need a shoulder to lean on. If you feel overwhelmed with emotion or have health issue that is bothering you, please talk to someone. I was always told, a problem shared is a problem halved.
