Spotlight Interview- Cardiff Wellbeing Support Services

26 Sept

Winners of last years Mental Health and Wellbeing Awards, Angela from Cardiff Wellbeing Support Services chats to us about what they can offer single parents in Cardiff.

Tell us about your business and why it started?

During the covid pandemic Cardiff Council became aware that there were large numbers of people across the city who were struggling with social isolation. The 2020 Ask Cardiff survey showed that 57.5% of respondents reported their sense of well-being has declined over the past 12 months. This is over double the figures from the 2019 survey (25.4%). As a result of the survey, they created The Cardiff Wellbeing Support Service to help address these issues and concerns.

The Cardiff Wellbeing Support Service is an award winning and unique local authority initiative in Wales, based on the NHS Five Ways to Wellbeing, providing bespoke, short term, one to one mentoring which focuses on ‘what matters’ to the individual, creating an action plan to achieve an improvement in wellbeing. Our service also includes a Community Volunteer Team which specialises in creating opportunities for citizens to engage and give back to their own communities.

We offer free and accessible community activities, ageing well advice, signposting and more. The Service has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from partners and citizens alike. The team are dedicated, enthusiastic and have made a real impact on wellbeing.

Tell us about the projects you run?

One to one mentoring

Volunteering opportunities Hubs and libraries / Groups and activities / Carers Friends project supporting unpaid carers
Groups and activities
Ageing Well

What ways do you support individuals and Families?

The Cardiff Wellbeing Support Service consists of a one to one mentoring service, ageing well advice, community activities and volunteering opportunities aimed at improving people’s wellbeing following the NHS’ five ways to wellbeing. Our service is available to anyone aged 16 and over.

Our one-to-one mentoring service seeks to boost a participant's health and wellbeing by helping them become more active and engaged in their community. We provide short term, one-to-one mentoring by our own Health and Wellbeing Mentors to those that need it and help them to access the right support they need. We support participants to access advice, activities, events, training opportunities and any other support to help meet their wellbeing needs. The activities can be whatever appeals and interests the participant.

We can also help a participant access other services and community activities hosting by our community inclusion officers and partner organisations.

An individual will work with a Health and Wellbeing Mentor for up to 13 weeks and their mentor will work on what is needed to improve their wellbeing, as outlined in their own personal Action Plan.

In particular, our One-to-One mentoring service might be of benefit to any parents that have become socially isolated and need encouragement or confidence building to reengage with their communities. We can help them connect with other parents, groups, services and activities to suit an individual’s needs.

We can help someone connect with other single parents in similar situations, and access groups and activities for their children, which again may help them too meet others in similar situations. We can specifically look activities that take place during school hours if that helps, and their health and wellbeing mentor can be flexible when meeting up with them too.

We can also help them connect with any other services that might help, such as ensuring they are aware of the free childcare offers, the CFAS website and other resources that are available for parents.

Our Ageing Well initiative helps people aged over 50 years to live well and independently. We provide advice and signposting to services and work with a variety of partners to provide specialist advice in the community.

The volunteering arc of the team run free and accessible activities from our hubs and libraries and other community venues across the city with the aim of promoting good wellbeing. The sessions the team set up encompass the `NHS' five ways to wellbeing including physical activities such as Tai Chi, walking groups and badminton, social groups, groups for people living with long term health conditions, arts and craft groups and more. Our staff are supported by a team of volunteers who either lead or support staff in leading the sessions. The team also run an Unpaid Carers Friends Project which aims to support Unpaid Carers overcome social isolation and improve their wellbeing over the phone or in person, befriending and undertaking light touch cleaning, gardening and shopping tasks to support the Unpaid Carer.

We can connect individuals with flexible volunteering opportunities that can fit around parenting responsibilities such as during school hours and more.