On Monday 26th September, North Staffs Wellbeing College ran its very first Open Day ahead of the start of its first term. The event ran from 10am-2pm at The Dudson Centre in Hanley, a great place to bring together Combined staff, partners, charities and potential students to celebrate the launch of the College.
Zoe Grant, Head of Nursing and Quality, said:
“It was so exciting to be at the Open Day today, there was a real buzz in the Dudson Centre and a clear emphasis on it being a college for everyone; staff, service users and community members. It’s been so encouraging to see everyone discussing the upcoming workshops and even brainstorming course ideas for future terms, co-production at its best!”
Attendees were met with refreshments, branded Wellbeing College mugs and cakes as well as balloons, marking the Open Day as a real celebration of partnership and the start to the first term. As well as a chance to look at potential ideas for future courses, the new College prospectus was also available for attendees to take a look at with details of the courses. The prospectus can be viewed on our website here.
It was clear that community spirit was a focus as many local charities and partners of the College attended; Changes, Step On, North Staffs Mind, Acorn Training, the Stoke-on-Trent Community Drug and Alcohol Service, Everyone Health and the Stroke Association all dropped in to show their support. Colleagues from Combined also took time out of their day to support the College, including Social Prescribers, the Community Learning Disabilities team and the Early Interventions team.
Sam Mellor, Skills Performance Manager at Acorn Training, commented:
“Acorn are really excited to be taking part in the Wellbeing College and keeping this partnership strong going into the future, for the benefit of the local community.”
Acorn Training are running a variety of workshops as part of the college, alongside the other partners. For more information on workshop details, view the prospectus.
North Staffs Wellbeing College is led by Adam Towlson, Wellbeing College Coordinator, and Jayne Simner, Recovery and Experience Lead, both who have worked hard to plan and prepare not only the Open Day but the organisation of the College itself, assisted by the governance of the Wellbeing College Steering Group.
At the Open Day, Jayne expressed her gratitude to those who have been supporting the College:
“Today’s launch has been brilliant, we really appreciate the support that everyone has shown to the College and for taking the time to come and see us. It was really great to see Kenny Laing, our Director of Nursing and Quality, join us at 10am to help kick off the day and we were busy throughout the event. We can’t wait to get stuck into delivering the workshops and the upcoming term, as well as seeing lots of new faces, some from the Open Day today”.
The Wellbeing College has started off to be a great success and we are excited to see how the first term starts, watch this space…
The video below is a small update on the day from Jayne Simner, Recovery and Experience Lead, and Zoe Grant, Head of Nursing and Quality.