Mental Health Matters Wales Out of hours Wellbeing Retreat for Bridgend County Borough

Service Aims:

Mental Health Matters Wales Wellbeing Retreat is an out of hours service delivered in the Bridgend County Borough area in partnership with Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, Bridgend County Borough Council, Assisted Recovery in the Community (ARC), NHS 111 press 2 and key third sector partners to provide support to those experiencing low level mental health and emotional wellbeing issues and those experiencing social distress/crisis outside normal working hours.

The Wellbeing Retreat supports a person in a social crisis who can be facing serious social, economic, or personal challenges that can significantly impact their life, livelihood, and overall well-being. It could be someone who has lost a loved one, suffered a traumatic event, lost employment, gone through a divorce, or experienced physical or emotional wellbeing challenges, among others.

The impact of being in a social crisis can be significant on the individual's health and emotional wellbeing. The situation can cause feelings of anxiety, depression, helplessness, hopelessness, and reduce self-esteem. Individuals have trouble sleeping, concentrating, and have recurrent negative thoughts. This can lead to an increased risk of suicide ideation, substance abuse, and other negative wellbeing behaviours. The stress associated with a social crisis can also affect physical health and lead to the development of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and digestive disorders.

Getting the necessary emotional wellbeing care and support is essential for individuals in a social crisis to help them manage their situation and thrive. The importance of the Wellbeing Retreat is to work collaboratively with our key stake holders to provide a multi-faceted approach to improve health and emotional wellbeing outcomes preventing deterioration. The Wellbeing Retreat emphasises the importance of adopting a holistic, person-centred approach to healthcare and considers the social determinants of health and focuses on prevention and early intervention. This can come in the form of a listening service, advice, information and signposting to appropriate services for community interventions to address the underlying issues.

The Wellbeing Retreat operates 4 evenings a week (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) 5-11pm.   The Wellbeing Retreat offers a safe, confidential, non-clinical space for individuals to feel comfortable talking about their problems on a 1:1 basis with a Wellbeing Retreat Worker.  To reduce barriers to accessing appropriate, timely support, the Wellbeing Retreat provides free transport for individuals who attend the service face to face to ensure safety, re-assurance and timely access to an appointment.

How to access the service?

Access to the Wellbeing Retreat is referral based only.  Referrals can be made via statutory health care professionals, GP’s, Social Workers, 111 press 2, and key third sector partners.  Referral forms must be sent electronically to wellbeingretreat@mhmwales.org or if you would like further information or a referral form sent to you for this service, please contact the Wellbeing Retreat Manager – natalie.jones@mhmwales.org

Alternatively, a referral can be made by contacting NHS calling 111 and selecting option 2 from the list of options.

Our leaflet is provided in Welsh and English, please download the relevant version above