This month's way to wellbeing spotlight is on Take Notice.

For more information, visit: 

www.studentsupport.manchester.ac.uk/taking-care/wellbeing/takenotice/. 

More details about the central University event taking place this month will be added here shortly.

Resources (including pre-designed and editable posters) to help you promote engagement with the Six Ways, or to advertise your own events, are available at: 

www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/brand/visual-identity/guidelines/other/ (you'll need to scroll down a little to get to them!). 

Don't forget to follow us on instagram: @uomwellbeing.

This month's practical to-do list for students can be found here. 

Find out here what the Student Wellbeing Champions are up to this month

What Made You Happy Today Photography Display

In line with Take Notice, we wanted to create a photography display of images taken by students. We don’t always notice the small things that make us happy in a day, but by asking people to take photographs of something that has made them smile, we will hopefully encourage them to appreciate the small joys. 

We will be collecting photographs from students from 1st February - 19th February and we will then display these images in the ground floor of the Main Library during the last week of February. Students can share their “made me happy today” photograph with us by submitting it via this Google Form: bit.ly/mademehappytoday. Photographs can be sent anonymously or with a name attached. 

Suggested information for newsletters/emails etc: (for students)

What’s made YOU happy today? We don’t always notice the small joys in life so we’re asking you to take a photograph of your “made me happy today” moment and share it with your student Wellbeing Team by Wednesday 19^th February via this link: bit.ly/mademehappytoday. The team will collect your photographs and, with your permission, display them in the ground floor of the Main Library from 24^th-28^th February.

Don’t forget to come to our display to see your work!

(Coming soon)

Here you'll find some general support information sheets relating to key student concerns:

• Academic support
• Academic circumstances
• Mental health
• Finances

Wellbeing boosters

We know that February can be a difficult time for students in terms of their emotional wellbeing so to help with this, we'll be running some mood-boosting events to help out - and we'd encourage you to do the same too! 

Wellbeing Wednesdays

Details:

Every Wednesday the Wellbeing Team will be promoting positive wellbeing. These might be events like a tea and talk in our Library Wellbeing space, a muse meditation session or positive social media messages encouraging students to take care of themselves. Details of February's events can be found in the suggested copy below.

If you'd like to run your own events (large or small!) to promote positive wellbeing and need some inspiration for activities, take a look at this event ideas page or if you have any questions or activity ideas that you’d like to speak to us about, please email: studentsupport@manchester.ac.uk

Remember to use the hashtag #uomwellbeingwednesdays in any social media posts!

Suggested copy for newsletters etc:

Looking for a wellbeing boost? Every Wednesday this semester your Wellbeing Team will be running ‘Wellbeing Wednesdays!'. These Wednesdays will include wellbeing events and activities, or wellbeing tips on social media to promote positive wellbeing. During February Wellbeing Wednesday activities will be as follows:

• Wednesday 5^th February: Instagram activity (@uomwellbeing)
• Wednesday 12^th February: Muse meditation session (Main Library, ground floor)
• Wednesday 19^th February: Muse meditation session (Main Library, ground floor)
• Wednesday 26^th February: Muse meditation session (Main Library, ground floor)

Keep an eye out for any additional activities taking place in your school too!  

Assets:

(Right-click to save images)

Muse headbands

Details:

Muse headbands are a meditation tool for students to use with the help of a staff member from the Wellbeing Team. We'll be doing a few pop-up sessions in February and students don’t have to book, they can just come along. The length of the meditation is up to the student, the most common is between 10-15 minutes. 

Suggested copy for newsletters etc:

We know that lots of students find February quite a tricky time for their wellbeing. So why not join us for a meditation session using our brainwave-sensing headband? During February, muse meditation sessions will take place on a drop-in basis and will be held in the pod in the back of the University's Main Library, on the ground floor.

If you're not sure where to go, the Main Library reception staff will be able to point you in the right direction. 

The sessions will be held on the following dates:

• Wednesday 12th February: 11am-1pm
• Wednesday 19th February: 11am-1pm
• Wednesday 26th February: 11am-1pm

*Please bring your own wired headphones along with you!*

If you’d like to find out more about muse headbands, visit:

www.studentsupport.manchester.ac.uk/taking-care/wellbeing/takenotice/muse/

Assets:

National Student Money Week

Details:

From the 3rd - 7th February, we'll be running a range of events for National Student Money Week - the theme for this year is 'spend healthily, live healthily: sustainable money'. The programme of events for the week can be found here. We've also included the assets we'll be using to promote our activities, so please feel free to share these on your own channels. 

General assets:

Suggested copy for newsletters etc:

3rd to 7th February is National Student Money Week and we have a range of exciting events for you and many great prizes to be won. Check out this poster to see what's on throughout the week! We've also created a free digital student budget planner fo you to use. 

Monday 3rd February:

Student Clothes Swap (in collaboration with Want Not Waste) - 12pm to 3pm in Ground Floor of the SU

Students are invited to bring in their unwanted (but clean and wearable!) clothes to swap. This allows them to not only save money but also contribute to saving the planet. Maximum of 10 items allowed per person. Any leftover clothes will be donated to the local Oxfam store. 

Tuesday 4th February:

Money quiz - 10am to 4pm in Student Wellbeing space in the Main Library

Students will be given 15 questions relating to money and finances. Everyone will get a prize for taking part, but the more questions they get correct, the better their prize will be!

Wednesday 5th February:

Money tips competition - 10am to 4pm in Student Wellbeing space in the Main Library

Students will be asked to contribute their best money advice to share with other students. The best one of the day wins a stack of best selling finance books!

Thursday 6th February:

Money tips online competition - all day on the @uomwellbeing account

Students will be asked to contribute their best money advice to share with other students via our Instagram page, @uomwellbeing. The best one of the day wins a Monopoly board game!

Friday 7th February: 

Shopping basket challenge - 10am to 4pm in Student Wellbeing space in the Main Library

Students will be asked to guess the value of two different shopping baskets, one branded and one unbranded. The students who get closest to the real value will be given the contents of the shopping basket to take home! 

Time to talk day

Details/suggested copy for newsletters etc:

Time to talk day is a nationwide event to encourage people to be more open and talk about how they are feeling. On Thursday 6^th February we invite you to come along to the Library Wellbeing Area between 11am-12pm for tea, biscuits and a good old chit-chat! 

Assets:

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My Future Festival

Details:

As part of My Future Festival, the Student Wellbeing team will be running a wellbeing pop-up in the iZone of University Place during the event. For more details, please see: www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/events/futurefestival/.

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Mindful messages

Details: 

On Monday 24^th February the Wellbeing Team will be distributing ‘Mindful Messages’ in main study spaces across campus, prompting students to think about how they’re feeling and remind them to take regular breaks. With help from our Wellbeing Champions we will write these messages on post-it notes and distribute them in study spaces around Main and North campus for students to read. We encourage you to take part in this event by distributing Mindful Messages in your department or school's study spaces and common areas. 

We haven't added any promotional assets for this event as we're hoping to keep the surprise element to it for students. I've added a sentence about the event for you to put in emails/newsletters if you wish, but this is just a teaser - we don't want to give too much away! 

If you wish to take part, we would ask that you use the pre-written messages in the document below.

Suggested copy for newsletters etc:

Feeling overwhelmed? We’ve got some tips that might help to boost your wellbeing – keep an eye out in University study spaces for our Mindful Messages on Monday 24^th February!

Assets: