Counselling and Mental Health Service

Practitioner referral only

This group is a weekly opportunity for students to connect with others and enjoy meaningful activities that can improve your wellbeing. It is facilitated by our Social Prescribing team who will guide you through ways you can incorporate the six ways to wellbeing into your week:

31/07 Connect

For the first session, we will be getting to know each other as a group. We will give you a tour of The Firs and you will be able to start propagating a plant to take home at the end of the six weeks. We will also be making plant hangers for the plants.

07/08 Take Notice

In week 2, we will be learning about ways to be more mindful in our everyday lives. We will be doing some mindful gardening and you can also press some ferns, foliage and flowers which can be used to create artwork in our final session.

14/08 Learn & Discover*

In week 3, we will be meeting at Manchester Museum to wander through the beautiful 130-year-old building and its exhibits. You will also be involved in a team hunt, working with clues that require you to explore the historic collections and work together to find the answers.

21/08 Be Healthy

In week 4, we will be learning about ways to take better care of our overall health, such as getting enough sleep and staying hydrated. You will have the opportunity to make a lavender eye pillow to take home.

28/08 Be Active*

For week 5, we will be taking part in a beginners yoga class. The class is suitable for everyone and you dont need to have practiced yoga before. For this session, you will need to wear comfortable clothes that you can move freely in.

04/09 Give

In our final week, we will be using the pressed flowers from week 2 to create thank you cards. You will also have the opportunity to enjoy some more gardening, as a way of giving back to The Firs for hosting our group. Your plant should be well rooted by now, so you will be able to take it home with you.

Whilst attendance to all six sessions isn't mandatory, we would advise you attend as many of the sessions as you can to get the most out of them. If you have any concerns about any of the activities, please speak to the Social Prescribers as we can support you.

Most sessions take place at The Firs Botanical Ground in the Fallowfield campus. However, there are two sessions which take place on the main University campus. The Social Prescribing team will contact you prior to the sessions to introduce themselves, share their contact details and give you detailed instructions on how to find The Firs.

* these sessions will take place on campus.