A week of Wellbeing?

I have had a busy week!
On Tuesday I gave a presentation to a group of midwives and staff at the Balsall Heath Children's Centre in Birmingham. http://www.stpaulstrust.org.uk/childrens-services-0-11/balsall-heath-childrens-centre/ I had been invited by Elsie Gayle who holds a series of meeting entitled 'Midwifery Conversations'.

Later on I spoke to members and guests at the Midlands chapter of the Professional Speakers Association http://www.professionalspeakersassociation.co.uk/ about my story and some of my suggestions on how to be a successful speaker.

I am rather pleased as I have received an invitation to speak in New Zealand in October this year. I am now looking for other opportunities 'down under' in the autumn to make the most of the trip. Can you help?

On Wednesday I met up with Ann Girling  http://www.onthethreshold.co.uk/ to make further plans on the sessions we have been doing with Children's centres. We were delighted to receive feedback from one we did recently, from the lead at a Children's centre:-

A Family Support Lead and Family Support worker have just returned from a child protection
meeting where FSL was able to ask the question had anyone considered that the Mum was suffering with postnatal depression. The meeting had  a GP and Health Visitor in attendance so you can imagine that without some knowledge this could have been difficult to do.

FSL's comments to me were " The training gave her the information she needed re the signs that Mum was displaying and the confidence to speak out". A support plan by FSL and her team has now been put in place.

I felt that you needed to know this as all too often we are unaware of the impact of training.

We are thrilled!

Thursday morning was spent with mental health students at Salford University - I hope to begin to speak to their student midwives too. http://www.salford.ac.uk/

That evening was spent at a Platform event organised by the Hope Street Centre. http://www.hopestreetcentre.com/  It was good to hear Andy Hull from Liverpool PCT speak about the Liverpool 2010 Year of Health and Wellbeing. http://www.2010healthandwellbeing.org.uk/index.php  The next event will be on the 8th June and feature Bob Ricketts, director of system management and new enterprise, from the Department of Health. http://www.nhsconfed.org/Networks/NHSPartners/ISPFtradefair/Pages/BobRicketts.aspx

The week ended with an enlightening morning called 'Ignite your Life' - a workshop aimed at improving your mental health. This was run by The Wellbeing Project, http://www.wellbeingproject.co.uk/  with whom Ann and I are doing some antenatal workshops next month.  I was very impressed with the team there and listened to great sessions by Stephanie Davies from Laughology http://www.laughology.co.uk/; Mark from the Wellbeing Project speaking about the Five Ways to Wellbeing and finished by singing my heart out with the wonderful Bernie Whelan from Crescendo!

Finally Friday evening was spent leisurely at The Knutsford Wine Bar. Very tasty! http://www.theknutsfordwinebar.co.uk/

I had been planning on being with my new baby niece this weekend - but I can't get near as my parents haven't been able to go to Austria for a holiday! I think my Mum's wellbeing has been improved by not being able to fly!

The Five ways to Wellbeing are:
Connect - I reckon I have connected to many this week!
Be active - Better have a walk with the pram tomorrow!
Take notice - We noticed the empty, blue, quiet sky above Knutsford - no planes.
Keep Learning - I learnt at all the events I attended this week.
Give - I gave my time on Tuesday to the groups I spoke to and hopefully they benefited.

What have you done?

Elaine Hanzak

www.hanzak.com