Libraries move Health and Wellbeing Week activities on-line

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Libraries Service has moved Health and Wellbeing Week 2021 on-line between Monday 25 and Sunday 31 January 2021.

There will be a wide range of free activities through their Facebook and Twitter pages to help improve everyone’s mental and physical wellbeing, which is now even more important during the ongoing lockdown restrictions.

The Library Service has once again teamed up with a range of partners to provide something for everyone. There will be digital content, live taster sessions and pre-recorded videos from Cheshire West Communities Together, Citizen Advice, Healthbox, Healthwatch, and Open Eye Gallery, as well as special storytimes and a virtual coffee morning with Opal Services.

Activities include:

• Moving Matters with Cheshire Dance
• Drive Safely for Longer with the Road Safety Team
• Wellbeing with Nature with Cheshire Wildlife Trust
• Using Ancestry for Beginners with Cheshire Record Office

Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, Councillor Louise Gittins said: “There is so much going on in libraries for on-line Health and Wellbeing Week.  Our events and activities list is very long and there is definitely something for everyone – and it’s all free.

“Now, more than ever, it’s really important for wellbeing to keep learning and keep your brain active; take a look at what is planned and find something to make you happy.”

Adopting the ‘five ways to wellbeing’ can really help. These five steps have been researched and developed by the New Economics Foundation¹as being key elements that contribute to mental wellbeing.

They are: stay connected, be active, keep learning, give and take notice. Applying these five steps can help maintain a positive approach to each day.

Throughout January the team has also partnered with Star Events Online, a world leading online events platform uniting people from across the world, from their home to yours. Highlights include:

• Cook along with the Stars – join a famous chef from your kitchen to theirs
• Online Drawing Class – 64 Million Artists January Challenge
• Comedy with the Stars - keep healthy, keep laughing and join leading stars from the world of comedy followed by a round table to raise awareness on mental health. Line up and panelists will be announced soon.
• Kids Cook Along - Join Jasmine Iachella making extremely yummy, healthy food alongside some guidance on child nutrition for parents or caregivers
• Meditation with the Stars – explore ourselves, deepen our awareness and consciousness, explore themes of the self, and develop inner peace.

Tickets to bookable events are FREE and available at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/cwaclibraries

Please note Zoom or Microsoft Teams will be required to access events and can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play Store.

Cheshire West and Chester Libraries also offer an extensive range of resources to help raise awareness about mental health whilst also providing access to information that will enable people to lead happier and healthier lives.  https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/libraries/mental-health-awareness.aspx

Here you will find sources of information and advice from a whole host of health organisations, and support for children, young people and older people.  The Mental Health Foundation have put together advice and support to help manage wellbeing and mental health during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Reading Well ‘Books on Prescription’ Schemes help people manage their health and wellbeing using self-help reading. The scheme is endorsed by health professionals and all titles are available free from Cheshire West and Chester Libraries. Many titles are also available as eBooks through the cloudLibrary app.

All customers can access library services online and it is now possible to join online and use the digital resources straightaway, gaining free access to thousands of eBooks, audio downloads, eMagazines, eNewspapers and eResources.

To sign up and get a library card number, just fill in the online form on the Council’s website www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/libraries.  Then email: libraries@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk confirming your full name, date of birth and postcode.

If you have a library card but are not sure of your PIN/password or need to renew your library card then email libraries@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk for help. You can also use the online chat facility on the Library webpages during office hours.

Further events and activities will be added throughout January so please follow Facebook @cwaclibrary and Twitter @cwaclibraries to keep up to date.