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Spring arrived early at The Bartlett with another Wellbeing Week organised for both students and staff by the Student Adviser team (myself, Kristina Labanauskaite and Pani Fanai-Danesh).

Monday 6 March opened with a mindfulness workshop. The Student Advisers shared some useful relaxation and self-care techniques that would help shift the focus from the busyness of everyday life to everyone’s own wellbeing needs. Monday afternoon featured a pottery class that was very popular and produced an array of fun creations that will go into the B-Made kiln soon.

Our Tuesday started early with a bird walk around the beautiful Bloomsbury area and plans are already in place to meet again when the weather is warmer. This was followed by a very insightful exploration of the connection between wellbeing and painting, part of the PhDConnect! ChangeMakers initiative.

We continued with a session on stress management on Wednesday, as well as another opportunity for those interested in pottery to have a go at creating something of their own, and we ended with a speed-friending session where students across the faculty could mingle and make some new friends.

We celebrated University Mental Health Day on Thursday with a yoga session, first thing in the morning. Another popular activity was our afternoon class, where attendees made their own tote bags using different materials, and either sewing or gluing them together, or drawing on the canvas directly. Already a Wellbeing Week tradition, our salsa class ended the day in style, with some very enthusiastic participants seeing their stress melt away and enjoying the music.

Friday started off with a workshop focusing on the benefits of digital technology in maintaining healthy wellbeing and ended with a quiet pizza and movie night in, when we all enjoyed Miyazaki’s magical My Neighbour Totoro.

As you can see, it was quite a busy time, with a variety of events available. Our team always love to interact with the Bartlett staff and students and it was great seeing everyone enjoy the events we planned in the third Wellbeing Week of 2022-23.

The Wellbeing Week concept originated from our ambition to raise awareness of the importance of self-care and to provide the resources and activities to support staff and students in making positive changes in their lifestyles. These week-long series of wellbeing events also encourage a sense of community and promote social connections.

Thank you to all who joined us on this occasion and for those of you who missed this one, please rest assured there will be other wellbeing events for you to join later this year.

As a reminder, if you are a student who would like to get in touch with one of us to discuss your wellbeing and any other support available to you at the Bartlett, UCL, or externally, you are welcome to book a chat with one of us through . As a member of staff, you can access wellbeing support through dedicated departmental wellbeing champions and the Workplace Health team.

Amalia Mihailescu, Student Adviser