Health and Wellbeing at The College of Animal Welfare

At The College of Animal Welfare and CAW Business School, we put the mental and physical wellbeing of our students and staff first. We want to empower our community to look after their health and wellbeing, and give them the resources they need to gain help if they need it.

Whether you’re suffering from stress, problems with sleep, feeling low or unable to cope, or simply need someone to talk to - it's ok to reach out for help and support if you need it. There are so many people, organisations, services and resources out there to help us cope during difficult times. At CAW, we offer lots of additional mental health support that our community can access free of charge, which you can read more about here.

If one of our students or staff members encounters a personal situation which they need advice or help with, in the first instance we encourage them to reach out to their teacher, head of course or line manager, who will be able to signpost them to appropriate support. If students prefer not to speak to their tutor, they can find details of organisations on the student notice boards at all centres that they may contact for professional help, covering a wide range of situations.

Counselling services available to all students

From time to time, we all struggle with problems at college, work or home, and need to talk to someone in confidence.

Whatever your situation, or what you need to talk about, counselling can help you to work through issues, give perspective and context to experiences and find ways of coping with and overcoming problems.

All our students are able to access free, confidential counselling services. Appointments are available face-to-face with Jill Dighton MBACP at Headland House or in her clinic in Grafham, Deborah Gould MBACP at Headland House or in St Netos, and with Mark Walsh at the Leeds centre or at the Satori Complementary Therapy Centre in Wakefield. Sessions are also available to all students by video conference, phone, FaceTime or similar.

All appointments must be made directly with Jill, Deborah and Mark. Students can access this service at no cost. Students are able to access this service free of charge on an ongoing basis as needed. Up to six sessions are available free of charge to staff. Please note the College is not made aware of any appointments made or the content of any session.

Jill Dighton - Tel: 07925 852 985 - Email: jill@jdighton.co.uk

Mark Walsh - Tel: 07905 611 591 - Email: mwalsh4@sky.com

Deborah Gould - Tel: 07731 410959 - Email: DeborahGouldCounselling@gmail.com

If you would prefer to find your own source of support you can find a list of  qualified counsellors or psychotherapists here.

CAW Peer Mentor Scheme

Here at CAW we understand that college can feel a little daunting, particularly during the pandemic. It may feel like it is a struggle to strike up friendships and settle into college life.

We want our students to make the most of their time with us. Not only do we aspire for our students to progress academically, but we also want to enable our students to develop as a person, nurture friendships and truly enjoy their time with us.

That’s why we set up the CAW Peer Mentor Scheme. This scheme offers students the chance to create connections with their peers and to share hints and tips for settling in at college.

Togetherall - mental wellbeing support for all staff and students

All our staff and students can access online mental health and wellbeing support through Together All (formerly Big White Wall). This service can be used at any time of the day or night, all year round.

Together All can help you get support, take control and feel better. The service enables members to get things off their chest in a safe, anonymous global community. You can access a library of self-care resources, including clinical tests, tips and guided group courses covering a range of topics. Trained professionals are online 24/7 to keep all members safe and provide extra support. Together All can help with adopting useful coping strategies and behaviours to help improve mental health and wellbeing. On Together All, people are totally anonymous to other members, and personal information is kept secure. The college is not informed of those who are signed up to Together All or activity on the service unless they are seriously concerned about safety whilst on campus.

Fika - Mental fitness app available to all CAW students and staff

Many of us can relate to the mental and emotional pendulums of every day life. We may be feeling great, like we’re firing on all cylinders one minute, then we may swing back towards the opposite direction and start to feel like we’re losing our way. If ever there were a more polarising time for us to feel aware of the highs and lows, it is now.

With our student and staff’s wellbeing being one of our top priorities, we set out to search of a way to offer our community an accessible, results driven means for our student and staff manage and future proof their mental fitness. Then we found Fika...

All our students and staff have access to the mental fitness app, Fika.

Fika is a remotely accessible mental fitness platform that is on a mission to mainstream mental fitness. It empowers individuals with guided mental skills development courses with proven benefits on mental wellbeing and performance.

Built from a robust evidence-base by an expert team. Fika draws on methods and theories of positive psychology as well as acceptance and commitment therapy, solution-focused therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness to build Mental Fitness.

Fika spotlights 7 Skills of Mental Fitness: stress, positivity, motivation, meaning, focus, connection and confidence. Fika offers you a variety of ways to engage with the platform:

• Target key areas – You are able to take a quick, easy assessment to allow them to discover their individual key areas of strengths and weaknesses. From there, you can target areas you may want to improve on using the in app courses.
• Daily videos – Fika streams on demand, regular ‘Thought of the Day’ 90s videos, sharing a focused positive reflection or action to inspire you to Fika daily.
• Monthly skills focus and master classes – All students and staff are invited to join our national monthly webinar series, dedicated to a new mental fitness skill each month. 
• Vibrant online community – Be part of a lively community to share powerful ways to help keep your mental fitness in tip top condition  

How do you Fika?  

It couldn’t be easier to weave Fika into your daily routine and take the opportunity to power up your mental fitness. Both staff and students will need to use their @caw.ac.uk email address to register and gain access to Fika.

Living Well

At The College of Animal Welfare, we make sure our students and staff have access to the most useful and up-to-date guidance and advice about their physical and mental wellbeing. All members of our community can access a hub of health and wellness information via the "Living Well" section of our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This area includes:

• A "Living Well" course - this course looks at the little tweaks or changes you can make to your lifestyle, which can make a real difference to your health and happiness
• Resources on mental wellbeing, eating well and getting active
• Information, advice and guidance on sexual health
• Health and safety information for students, employers and practices

Safeguarding

Do you want to speak with somebody about a safeguarding issue? If so, please contact one of the Safeguarding Officers.

Safeguarding contact number: 01480 422070

Email: safeguarding@caw.ac.uk

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy – COVID-19 Arrangements

 

Additional Resources

• Mental Health Foundation – Looking after your mental health during the Coronavirus outbreak
• Mind – Coronavirus and your wellbeing
• Mental Health England – Supporting your mental health while working from home
• Samaritans – If you’re worried about your mental health during the coronavirus outbreak
• Vetlife– Mental health support and financial assistance for the veterinary community including veterinary nurses and students
• Student Minds - The UK's student mental health charity
• Staying Safe - a potentially life-saving resource to keep people safe from thoughts of harm and suicide.
• Keep Your Head - Information on mental health and wellbeing across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
• Anxiety UK – a charity providing support for those with an anxiety condition.
• Bipolar UK – a charity helping people living with bipolar disorder.    
• CALM – Campaign Against Living Miserably, for men aged 15 – 35.
• Men's Health Forum – 24/7 stress support for men by text, chat and email.  
• The Mental Health Foundation – providing information and support for anyone with mental health problems or learning disabilities.  
• No Panic – voluntary charity offering support for sufferers of panic attacks and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
• OCD Action – support for people with OCD. Includes information on treatment and online resources.
• Papyrus – young suicide prevention society.
• Rethink Mental Illness – support and advice for people living with mental illness.
• BEAT Eating disorders - support and advice for those living with an eating disorder.
• Samaritans - talk to someone in confidence 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• SHOUT in a crisis. Get 24/7 help from a team of crisis volunteers by texting 85258.