At Step One we encourage people to take that first step in managing their mental health.

Part of our approach considers the wider wellbeing of the people we work with and explores the factors that could be affecting their mental health, their ability to work or their choice to become part of their community.

Through one-to-one mentoring and group sessions in employment and independent living skills, we support people in regaining control of their future.

Our teams understand the vital importance of developing skills and building confidence in achieving long term goals and reaching better outcomes for the people we support.

Across Step One we plan activities and events that build on life skills in a safe environment creating confidence in people that they can strive for their ambitions and achieve them.

Here is a snapshot of some of the activities and events set up by the Team at Cypress Hospital in February.

The theme for this year’s #TimeToTalkDay is ‘The Power of Small’ so our team at #steponecypress held an event to talk about the small changes that can boost your mental health, and look at the small gestures that might make all the difference in reaching out to someone in need.

As part of Send a Card to a Friend Day, we designed and made cards to send someone as a message of thanks for their support or to give someone a boost to their mood.

We held an event at Cypress Hospital giving advice on steps to take to keep safe while using the internet and exploring issues that may impact our mental health while viewing content online.

We took the opportunity on National Pizza Day to test our skills in the kitchen by cooking delicious homemade pizzas and looking at the impact food can have on our mood and mental wellbeing.

For Valentine’s day, we looked at ways of looking after ourselves and making good choices for positive mental health and making sure we took the time to care for ourselves as well as others.

In the run-up to Random Acts of Kindness Day, we encouraged people to leave little messages of thanks and tokens of appreciation for each other as a simple act of kindness. We also arranged a collection for our local THAT Foodbank delivering all the donations on the day of Random Acts of Kindness Day.