New opportunity for bands to nominate attendees for wellbeing workshop

Band representatives are being offered another opportunity to take part in a SBBA wellbeing workshop.

The event will take place on Wednesday 5 October at 7pm via Zoom with Mental Health First Aid England (MHFAE) instructor and advocate Tabby Kerwin.

The course is free to participants whose bands have not been represented before, otherwise there is a £30 per person charge.

The first part of the workshop will cover mental health awareness before moving on to wellbeing and self-care with a specific focus on the needs of musicians.

SBBA was the first brass band organisation in the United Kingdom – and possibly the world – to make fully subsidised mental health awareness training available to all its members.

The first mental health and wellbeing workshop was held virtually 15 months ago and a second took place in May. So far some 24 delegates have attended. Feedback has been extremely positive and a Facebook group has since been set up as a support network.

Bands are asked to contact event organiser Lesley Crumlish at sbbawellbeing@gmail.com with details of name and band of nominated attendee(s).

It is hoped that, in the development of a sound mental health culture, each band will appoint a designated Wellbeing Champion, who not only has an understanding of common mental health issues and the ability to spot early warning signals, but also possesses the skills to promote positive wellbeing and the confidence to support a person in distress.