Mental Health Awareness Week 2022

This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week runs from 9 to 15 May 2022

Mental Health Awareness Week is an annual event hosted by the Mental Health Foundation to promote and raise awareness of the importance of mental health and wellbeing.

At Abertay, we’re marking the week through a programme of events, activities and more on this year’s theme of Loneliness. Find out how you can get involved and help raise awareness of loneliness and its impact on our mental health and wellbeing.

What's on during the Week

'Mental health and me' talk by Charlie Malone

International Management lecturer Charlie Malone will give a special talk on his struggles with mental illness and how he has learned to manage his own mental health and wellbeing.

As well as his teaching role at Abertay, Charlie is a well-known local figure in Dundee having represented the Lochee ward on Dundee City Council since 2017. Charlie is very open about his own mental health and is keen to share his experience to help others.

The online talk is on Thursday 12 May 14.00-15.00. Please note this event is only open to Abertay staff and students. Book your place on Eventbrite.

Visits from Andy’s Man Club

Andy's Man Club is a charity that offers a place for men to come together in a safe environment to talk about issues and problems they have faced or are currently facing.

Alex McClintock, who oversees the Scottish branches of Andy's Man Club, joins us to talk to staff and students about some of the stigmas surrounding mental health and how we can normalise the conversations.

There are two dates that are open to both staff and students. Book your place on Eventbrite:

Tuesday 10 May 13.00-14.00 (online)
Friday 13 May 13.00-14.00 (on campus)

Abertay University Walking Challenge

With spring now here, Abertay Sport is launching a new Walking Challenge to encourage members of staff to become more active with a view to improving both mental and physical health.

The challenge will officially kick off on Monday 9 May 2022 (although staff can join at any time) and involves achieving 8,000 steps a day for the next five weeks.

Those who achieve 70,000 or more steps a week will receive a month-long gym membership and a personalised training programme. The person who achieves the most steps overall will get a free semester one gym membership (September – December 2022).

To register your interest in taking part, email Sports Development Officer Michael Devlin.

NHS Tayside mental health workshop

The team at NHS Tayside is hosting an online discussion on mental health services in the Tayside area on Wednesday 11 May 15.00-16.30. The aim is to share ideas and experiences to improve the mental health and wellbeing of communities and people in the area.

The event is open to the wider workforce including public, private and third sector colleagues and volunteers working across Tayside.

Book your place on Eventbrite.

Abertay academics attend EU conference on addressing social isolation

Professor Daniel Gilmour and Dr Kenneth Scott-Brown are attending the Isolation to Inclusion (I2I) Midterm conference in Brussels on 9-13 May 2022. The conference is part of the I2I project which is funded by the EU and aims to enhance innovation in social service delivery to improve social inclusion and counteract loneliness in communities.

Professor Gilmour and Dr Scott-Brown will run a workshop at the conference on the topic of 'Digital solutions for social challenges' which explores how technology can be used to address social isolation and loneliness.

Abertay project helps tackle isolation for young carers

A new I2I project, ‘Abertay Student Carers’, is underway following on from the successful ‘Young Adult Carer’ project in collaboration with Dundee Carers where team Triangle Bear developed ‘Home’ game ('Home' Trailer - YouTube) as part of their Professional Development module. ‘Home’ is now being used as an educational resource throughout Dundee schools.

The ‘Abertay Student Carers’ project team include the Students Association and Student Services Manager Richard Ogston, again in collaboration with Dundee Carers. The aim is to address feelings of isolation and exclusion due to caring responsibilities and potentially increase retention rates. A challenge is reaching all Student Carers as some students are unaware that they are Carers. At the moment the team are encouraging Students to disclose their caring role with a view to developing and promoting a range of benefits that will support them throughout the student journey and also help them prepare for life beyond university.

Support for staff and students at Abertay

Abertay has a number of resources available from the University and the Students’ Association to support our community with managing their mental health and wellbeing.

Students who would like to make an appointment with the Counselling or Mental Health Advisory service can email counselling@abertay.ac.uk or speak to staff at the Support Enquiry Zone (SEZ) on Level 1 of the Library.

Staff members can make an appointment with Occupational Health by visiting the Health, Safety and Wellbeing tile on MyAbertay.