Looking back: Student Wellbeing Faire at the Students’ Union, written by Natalie Shotton, President Faculty of Health 25/26

A major factor contributing to both why I study Psychology and why I ran for President Faculty of Health is the Wellbeing of others. Therefore, being allocated Wellbeing lead within the Presidents’ team was exciting. 

To support you on this year’s university’s Mental Health Day, I put my heart into hosting the Student Wellbeing Faire in March. Your student feedback, provided through course reps and school reps, highlighted four key areas of focus;- Mental, Physical, Financial and Community. 

Before I explain more of these key areas below, I wanted to first showcase three key student groups. A massive shout out to ig:@Huddle_UPSU, ig:@womenshealthandwellbeing_plym, and EDI Rep Ffilan Mee for their efforts on this day.

Huddle_UPSU, created by a few societies working together, is a sports mental health campaign. They wish to raise awareness of mental health challenges in sports clubs and are seeking information to help strengthen support within their communities. A special thank you to Poppy Firth and Emily Robinson for bringing this energy to the faire. 

Women’s health and wellbeing society collaborated with the Faculty of Health EDI Rep to raise awareness of the ‘Red Box Scheme’ and other women’s related challenges. The ‘Red Box Scheme’, created by Psychology Lecturer, Dr Jaysan Charlesford, combats period poverty by offering free period pads within toilets in the University. A special thank you to Emily Pinn, Ash Parker and Ffilan Mee. 

Mental Wellbeing:

Student feedback has shown me that Students struggle with a wide range of issues, from mental health and addiction, family dynamics and accessibility concerns. Through collaboration with local Plymouth services, University services and UPSU services, we filled the faire with experts to equip you with the information on how to deal with these issues. Your feedback to the University services will directly impact next years’ Students (and maybe you too) and the student experience here. 

Physical Wellbeing:

Physical and mental wellbeing can impact each other;- therefore you must ensure you are focusing on each aspect. Our SU Gym specialists attended the faire to give away the donated membership. The local branch of Lush offered free massages, which is proven to reduce stress. Furthermore, we had specialist services such as Harbour, Rethink mental illness, Shelter and Trevi, who provide support in crisis situation to ensure you remain physically safe. 

Financial Wellbeing:

I reached out to lots of local business in Plymouth in search of companies willing to support you Students with your Wellbeing. You gave me feedback on how to improve the University’s Student Wellbeing service, in exchange to enter into the raffle. You won donations from Cake Box, Nandos, Paradise Golf, Wagamama, SU Gym membership, Escapism and voucher donations from the University cafes. 

Promoting Community:

Not only did your Plymouth community support you – your University community supported you too. With a couple months preparation, I collected around 100 ‘Dear Student’ letters from both the Student Union and University staff, across all levels of the institution. Thank you to all who stopped by to collect a note and thank you to those students who contributed to the campaign. Leftover notes can be found in the Hive or at the Student Hub desk. 

I wish the best for you all. Thank you for all of your support at this faire.

Sincerely,

Natalie Shotton
President Faculty of Health