Under the umbrella of their outreach group, HOST, Hillsborough Presbyterian Church designed a range of activities to promote positive mental health and well-being during the Mental Health Awareness Week 10 -16 May. The theme this year was ‘Nature and the Environment’.
The rationale for holding this programme stemmed from an awareness that there are people in their congregation who have been affected by COVID in a variety of ways in terms of having been ill themselves, of being furloughed, perhaps having lost their jobs, not being able to attend school or university, on-line learning, having to cope with working from home and maybe also juggling that with home-schooling. A number of families have also been bereaved during this period. Many members of the congregation will have missed attending Church and the fellowship of their organisations, and everyone has missed their usual contact with friends and family due to COVID restrictions, and on top of that, we hear frequent reports on our news bulletins about the impact extended periods of lockdown have had on people’s mental health and wellbeing.
The programme was open to any member of the congregation or wider community, and was designed to run online in order to be COVID-safe. Most of the events are still available – just go to the HPC website https://www.hillsboroughpresbyterianchurch.com/ and click onto the relevant day to find the event you are looking for. Click here to see the programme.