In honour of International Happiness Day, the University of Sunderland teamed up with students to run a range of free activities to help destress and create happiness for students.
The event was organised by students on the university’s Entertainment Management degree, who were helped out by the Student Union and student volunteers.
The events included free henna tattoos, origami, and a wish tree, as well as peer coaching opportunities, and a mental health workshop.
Helen Kennedy, a guest speaker from Youth Focus North East ran the workshop alongside other members of her organisation. The workshop covered a range of topics, from identifying mental health issues to way to boost wellbeing.
Ms Kennedy said:
“Significantly, the statistics are saying that [there needs to be a focus on mental health] in universities, massively. The young people that we work with are telling us they want more support, they want more talks and they want the word spreading much more. There’s still a taboo and there’s still a significant stigma – it’s ok not to be ok. The message is still not quite reaching – even today, a lot of people that could have come and heard the message still haven’t.”