The Brentwood Belles Wellbeing Initiative

Last year, you might remember that your committee began working on a wellbeing initiative for our members. As it is World Mental Health Day, we thought we should give you an update from Rosa who is spearheading the project:

Where We Left Off…

When we initially discussed this in committee, it seemed like such a simple idea, and very easy to make happen. However, as I began properly designing things, I realized the project had much more potential that I was giving it credit for, and wanted it to be effective, and the best it could be for our membership.

This is what I presented during our last AGM:

As Brentwood Belles, we joined for friendship and camaraderie, but we occasionally need support as well. Be it in regards to mental health, physical health, grief and loss, loneliness, life stage changes, neurodiversity, or any other concerns, we want to support you.

You may or may not feel comfortable talking to members at meetings or subgroups depending on the subject; but across the membership, we have ladies who may have gone through similar issues and could be a resource or listening ear for you.

As such, we are creating an easier route to ask for help. We have created an email address: wellbeing (at) thebrentwoodbelleswi.co.uk. As a member, you can send an email and ask for support. The email will go to committee members and we will put you in contact with members who would be a good match with your needs.

While we already do this informally, we have come to recognise that it can be difficult to ask for help, or to do so publicly; so we wanted to make it easier, and make sure all our members were being well supported.

Additionally, in order to better develop this network of support, we will be sending out a survey where you can choose to be included, and specify which topics you would like to be included on as part of the support team. 

We appreciate all of you and are happy to be creating a stronger, clearer way to support all of our members and their wellbeing. 

The email address has been active since last April and while we haven’t had many members messaging, they have been more willing to ask for support in person, knowing we are willing and able to offer help, expertise, and community.

What’s Been Happening Since…

In the last few months, I have been doing research and attending conferences trying to learn how to best enact the main part of the project, which is learning about members’ experience and skills, and creating pathways for other members to be supported. 

In attending the NFWI Annual Meeting, I heard the amazing speakers Mel B. and Nazir Afzal discussing violence against women, and it made me realize just how important our sisterhood can be to one another in times of need, and that it isn’t just about feeling good, it can be life changing and life saving.

More recently, I attended the Big Data London conference to talk with the Women in Data organization and to learn about how best to protect our members’ data and information in this ever changing online world. I discovered some amazing new tools that can help us keep our identities safe while participating in social media and having our wellness information collected. 

Finally, I attended the Gardeners Trade Show with Natasha as part of the Chicken and Frog Bookshop team. We learned about all the new titles coming out in the next year and got to hear from several authors of both fiction and non-fiction that are being promoted by the publishers. What struck me was how many publishers were shifting into the wellness space and how many new titles were related to mental health and wellbeing, specifically with regards to issues experienced by women. This only furthered my resolve that this project is essential to us as a community.

What Happens Next…

The committee has been being updated on the progress and we continue to create support systems in the background for our members. Nicola L., who recently led a course for Social Media and WIs on the WI Learning Hub, and I are going to be working together so that the information you are getting via social media matches what we have available for you on our website. We are also going to be working on creating some new safety initiatives for our information that we will be enacting in the new year. 

Now, we are working on the next phase of the project, which is the two surveys to be sent out to members, one detailing how you can help/share your experience, and the other being used for asking for help. The first survey is about half complete, and I am working on the language of the questions, as well as making sure all topics are being addressed. We hope to have these sent out in the new year. We will update the Wellbeing Initiative page on our website as things progress.

In the meantime, don’t forget you can contact us at the wellbeing (at) thebrentwoodbelleswi.co.uk email address if you need support. You can also keep in touch with us at subgroups, including our Menopause Support and Neurodivergent Support subgroups, both of which were created as part of our participation in the national WI Resolutions.

As a committee we want to reiterate that we appreciate all of you and are happy to be creating a stronger, clearer way to support all of our members and their wellbeing. Happy World Mental Health Day Belles!