Poor sleep will be put to bed during awareness day

The benefits of getting a good night’s kip will be revealed as part of a universities-wide mental health awareness day next week.

University Mental Health Day will be held on Thursday 5 March in universities up and down the land to highlight how important good student mental health (MH) is and spread the word this is a year-round issue to be aware of.

For UON’s event the Counselling and MH team – led by Jo Lester – will ‘bed down’ on the ground floor of Learning Hub from 10am -2pm.

They will be on hand to advise about the range of support UON offers to staff and students.

As chronic sleeplessness can lead to depression or anxiety, a bed will be set up and used as a conversation piece to get people talking about what makes the perfect night’s sleep.

Complementing this but in a more upright position, the Library and Learning Service will have their own stand promoting ‘Bibliotherapy’ extolling the health benefits of reading for pleasure.

UON Mental Health Nursing students will hold a charity cake sale and the University’s Mental Health First Aid team will be on hand highlighting their role signposting people to appropriate mental health support. The University has a robust MHFA strategy and culture for staff and students and has been nominated for awards in recognition of this.

Students’ Union Vice President for Welfare Katy Baker is hosting a ‘Pledge Tree’ for students to make their own pledges about how they will be more mindful of mental health.

External visitors will include PAT Dogs, substance misuse charities The Bridge and Change Grow Live, Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust’s eating disorders service, NStep (an early intervention for psychosis service) and Serenity (a sexual assault referral service).

The intranet contains more information about MH support for staff and the Student Hub has details about MH advice and counselling provided by UON.

Find out more about University Mental Health Day.