health improvement
Scotland the Bread are crowd funding
Scotland grows a lot of wheat but precious little of it is used to make bread. We rely on imports and so have little control over this staple food. It turns out that the wheat varieties in today’s bread may well have less of the nutrients needed for health than in the past. Better grain and better bread can help solve our growing health problems, Scotland the Bread have started research to find more nutritious wheats, suitable for low-impact farming. And they’re passing on the skills that turn locally-grown wheat into delicious, healthy bread.
To help local communities bring better bread within everyone’s reach, Scotland the Bread are supporting six groups to grow their own healthy bread, from the soil to the slice. See here for more details on how to get better bread within the reach of everyone!
Want to know more, visit; http://www.breadmatters.com/
Our Song: Mental Health In Young People
Check out this fantastic film from young people in the Mearns area.
Community and therapeutic garden networking – Aberdeen
Community and therapeutic garden networking – Aberdeen
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Where: Donside Village, The Meeting Room, Donside Village Square, Aberdeen
When: Wednesday 01 July.
This day is free but booking is essential
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10am – 3 pm Are you involved in community or therapeutic gardening activity and looking to network with others? This networking day will include the opportunity to meet others, hear about the recent development of community garden activity at Donside Village and raise topics for group discussion. A soup and bread lunch will be included. This event is organised by the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens and supported by Trellis – supporting health through horticulture. 3pm – 4.30 pm This session is aimed at those looking to establish or support community gardening activity in their locality. Come along to a short presentation of the benefits of community growing, have your questions answered on what to do next and find out more about resources available to get you started. For more information about the day or to see a specific topic for discussion included please contact lou@farmgarden.org.uk Please feel free to circulate event details and booking link to colleagues or potentially interested parties. When
July 1st, 2015 10:00 AM through 4:30 PM
Location
Donside Village Square
Aberdeen AB24 2PL Contact
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Volunteer this Summer
Now the long summer holidays are approaching you may be looking for something to do or something for the kids to do. Have you ever considered volunteering?
Maybe you’re just looking for something to do for a few hours a week or possibly you have more time to spare and are looking for something to do with the family and kids over the school holidays. Then perhaps volunteering is something to consider.
Whether it’s helping out at the local youth club over the summer holidays, or at the local animal shelter or just helping the old lady next door with her shopping, the benefits of volunteering are many.
Volunteering is something a person does in their own time, without pay or compulsion, and which is for the benefit of the community, the environment or other people outside their immediate family. Read the rest of this entry »
Eating Well and Mental Wellbeing
All this week, Pillar Kincardine have been telling us about issues important to them. Over the next couple of days, we look at how your diet and what you listen to can effect your mental health…
What does eating well mean? Broadly speaking it means eating in a way that:
- Keeps our weight stable
- Provides all the necessary food groups and vitamins
- Is an enjoyable experience
Why is eating well important?
It helps to prevent many diseases which are linked with being overweight. Diseases include high blood sugar, high blood pressure, heart problems, stroke, cancer, joint problems and sleep difficulties. Eating well also nourishes our brain so we feel better emotionally.
Eating is essential for sustaining our lives, keeping healthy and preventing disease but most of us struggle to eat what we need and battle with eating what we want and what makes us feel better emotionally. We tend to eat if we are sad, lonely or hurt but equally if we want to celebrate success or as a reward. Attempting to change our eating habits is much more than just learning the facts it’s about making good choices every day which is easier said than done. Understanding why healthy eating is so important and looking at the benefits of certain foods helps on this journey. Read the rest of this entry »
The Benefits of Arts and Crafts
“Some of us feel bad about [taking] time for creative expression. One would think that we’d view creativity as ‘more productive’ and hence less guilt- producing than leisure, yet we still seem to believe that self-expression is less of a priority than satisfying the needs of others.” Alice Domar, Ph.D.
Unfortunately, many of us push crafting and creativity to the bottom of our To Do List. Maybe we feel guilty for doing something for ourselves—women, of course, are taught that everyone else’s needs should come first—or maybe we feel that even when we’re relaxing, we should be doing something productive. All we need is permission from ourselves to spend time creating and the courage to push beyond our comfort zone so our projects truly express what’s inside and help us to unblock, purge, and transform our feelings. Read the rest of this entry »
Mindfulness Meditation
Continuing our focus on mental health, find out how Pillar are using mindfulness with great results.. 
Another way in which we have been practising mindfulness at Pillar is via meditation. We have discussed how meditation need not be associated with specific religious beliefs or entail difficult body postures. It need not take longer than five minutes and does not involve an ‘emptying’ of the mind, but rather an effort to take some control of our thoughts. Meditation has been shown to increase the grey matter associated with wellbeing and compassion, and decrease areas associated with stress. On a physical level, it has been shown to lower high blood pressure and lessen chronic pain. Read the rest of this entry »
Mindful Colouring
Read on to discover how Pillar have used colouring in to enhance the lives of many…
“Mindfulness” is a bit of a buzzword in mental health nowadays, but is in fact rooted in the ancient traditions of Buddhism. Tried and tested for centuries, the art of mindfulness encourages us to slow down and focus on the present moment. It urges us not to worry about a past that cannot be changed and a future that will not be improved by present anxiety. Experiencing all that the present moment has to offer is, from this point of view, truly living, and will have numerous benefits for both our physical and our mental health. ReachOut.com lists these benefits as including less anxiety, better problem solving and sleep and greater happiness overall. Read the rest of this entry »
Pillar Kincardine
Yesterday we got to know Sara Kamrath, Service Manager Pillar Kincardine. Today, we look at what Pillar does.
Pillar Kincardine was founded in 1989 as a result of the success of “Stepping Stones” and Pillar Aberdeen’s provision of social and leisure activities for people within Aberdeen City (Pillar Aberdeen has since closed on 29th August 2010).
Pillar Kincardine’s objectives then, as now, were to provide support services for people who have experienced or continue to experience challenges in relation to their mental health and to promote mental wellbeing.
We have been providing day services continuously for 25 years. These services were developed in response to service user’s needs and have evolved over the years. New projects and initiatives have grown out of earlier ones. Read the rest of this entry »
Mental Health Awareness Week, 11th – 17th May 2015.
Since the first Mental Health Awareness Week in 2000, mental health groups have pushed topics like loneliness, anger, fear, exercise, alcohol and friendship into the public sphere.
All week, K & M Communities will be focusing on the great work done by in Kincardine & Mearns by Pillar Kincardine, founded in 1989 as a result of the success of “Stepping Stones” and Pillar Aberdeen’s provision of social and leisure activities for people within Aberdeen City (Pillar Aberdeen has since closed on 29th August 2010).
Pillar Kincardine’s objectives then, as now, were to provide support services for people who have experienced or continue to experience challenges in relation to their mental health and to promote mental wellbeing.
We thought it would be good to speak to Sara Kamrath, the smiley face who greets you at Pillar, Kincardine. We persuaded her to tell us and you a little about herself… but not in the conventional way. We wanted to dig deeper… Read the rest of this entry »
Local Transport Initiatives in Kincardine & Mearns
Mearns Community Transport (MCT) runs a variety of different transport schemes, available to the residents of the Kincardine and Mearns area.
MCT believe community transport is more than getting folk from A to B. It is about social inclusion, tackling isolation, providing independence and opening opportunities.
The primary service run by MCT is the Community Minibus, which is a fully accessible minibus available for hire to all community groups and organisations in the Mearns. The vehicle is a Mercedes Sprinter minibus which can carry 15 passengers and is available for hire to all community groups and organisations in the Mearns and can be used by these groups for outings or events etc.
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