Telford College organised a series of initiatives to coincide with this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week.

This year’s campaign turned the spotlight on anxiety – encouraging people to gain a better understanding of the issues, and consider what can be done when anxiety starts to become a problem.

College enrichment co-ordinator Rosie Baldwin-Jones created a message board where students could post their own thoughts about ways of improving your mental health.

Their suggestions included talking about how you feel with your family, doing something you love with your friends, spending time with pets, sitting in the garden watching the birds, listening to music, watching a film, and many more.

Rosie said: “Anxiety is a normal emotion in us all, but sometimes it can get out of control and become a mental health problem.

“Lots of things can lead to feelings of anxiety, including exam pressures, relationships, changing jobs, or other big life events.

“We want to increase awareness and understanding of anxiety by providing our students with information on things that can help prevent it from becoming a problem, and encouraging them to air their views.”

Telford College is also running a series of distance learning courses with a spotlight on mental health.

They include modules on children and young people’s mental health, understanding mental health, working with people with mental health needs, mental health first aid, and mental health advocacy in the workplace.

• More details about these programmes are available by calling 01952 642554, or emailing distancelearning@telfordcollege.ac.uk

Pictured above: Ukrainian students Ruslana Bolila, left, and Kate Pryima, take a look at the Telford College message board.