University to support BBC’s Headfest ‘23

University of Northampton (UON) teams will be out in force next month, spreading the word about mental health at a major annual event.

Headfest is a ‘Glastonbury for the mind’ – now in its second year – is a week-long (Sunday 7-Sunday 14 May) series of activities that brings together the best of good mental health advice and answers, services and support across the county all under one roof.

That roof is Royal & Derngate’s and the Headfest programme – most of which is free – includes talks and discussions, workshops, documentary screenings, and theatre performances*.

Headfest is the brainchild of BBC Radio Northampton’s Helen Blaby who, after her mental health struggles, was inspired to take mental health out of the clinic and into the community.

University of Northampton teams will provide the following activities:

• Tuesday 9 May (all day) – members of the University’s Nursing Team will be on hand to talk about Mental Health First Aid, lead interventions (such as the ‘stress bucket challenge’) and talk with Headfest guests about mental health.
• Wednesday 10 May, 16:00-17:00 – Senior Lecturer in Psychology Dr Karishma Jivraj will give a talk about mental health in the workplace. This will be an interactive session – including demonstrations of how to become more mindful – in which audience contributions are welcome. She will also cover recognising poor/thriving mental health, achieving wellness at work, stigma and myth busting and tips to support yourself and others.
• Saturday 13 May, 13:00 – Dr Rob Lyon, Senior Lecturer in Health and Exercise Psychology, will join a panel discussion about physical activity and how it can improve our mental health.
• The University’s Security Team will also lead a ‘meditation with Sir David Attenborough’s virtual reality experience and talk about their role as mental health and wellness support for the UON community (date tbc).

Other UON staff will be on hand to offer a friendly ear if guests wish to discuss the event or their own mental health.

Town and county mental health partners supporting Headfest are Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation NHS Trust, Action for Happiness, Space 2 Talk, Northamptonshire Mind, The Lowdown and Delapre Abbey Trust.

Dr Jacob Saranga, Dean of the Faculty of Health, Education and Society at University of Northampton, says: “The University of Northampton has a long pedigree of providing access to good mental health for our community. Last year, our student Mental Health and Counselling Team – the first such, dedicated service established in a UK university – celebrated its 25th birthday, making our involvement in Headfest ’23 fitting and timely.

“I’m proud to see several UON teams will be at Headfest adding their professional voices to a series of great conversations for members of the public about how to look after their mental health.”

*(Addition: 4 May 2023): Use the code Joyful on host Royal & Derngate’s website to book free tickets to the author talks.