Q&A with Alastair Agbaje (Chaplain)
and Finn Knauss (President)

Finn, thanks for chatting with us. Today marks University Mental Health Day. According to a recent survey of nearly 40,000 students, it was revealed that one in five students have a mental health diagnosis. What do you think of this statistic?

Wow, this number is high. But when I think about it, it makes sense. Being a student can be a stressful time in one’s life and with so much going on it can be easy to lose sight of things that matter, such as personal health (physical and mental).

Do you feel that students are talking about mental health more these days?

I feel like the topic is becoming more discussed but I do think many people still attach a stigma to mental health that causes people to see it in a bad light. It needs to be realized that mental health issues affect so many people and can be present in unexpected ways. Being kind to everyone is a good place to start in order to minimize the effect of this stigma.

Alastair, as the Newbold Chaplain, can you share how we as an establishment aim to help, relieve and combat mental health with our students? 

Our mission statement for chaplaincy/campus ministries I believe embraces our aims and also encourages and supports wellbeing helping students to grow and combat mental health challenges. Being involved on campus enables students to build friendships and support one another. 

In addition the chaplain, student experience officer and residential life team are all trained to be aware and alert of the signs of students that may be suffering from mental health. We provide a counseling service and resources and information to sign post students too. Within the last threes years, chaplaincy team have built successful partnerships and collaborations with Bracknell Samaritans and Royal Berkshire mental health crisis team services who all provide free support for mental health concerns.

Finn, what are your top coping tips when it comes to facing big academic moments, such as revision and exams?

I used to be a big procrastinator and would always wait until the last minute to study and write my papers. This always caused a lot of stress near the end of the semester and was not healthy for me mentally. Recently it has helped me to schedule for the work I am going to do throughout the semester at the beginning and complete it slowly so that it is already done by the time revision week starts.

If you were facing a difficult time on a personal level, what steps would you take to seek help as a student?

When I am in a tough personal situation I first go to my friends and family. If the problem is bigger I always enjoy discussing it with a mentor or pastor. Our campus is lucky to have access to people like this as well as mental health professionals in the form of counseling. When facing personal dilemmas the free counseling service that newbold provides can be very valuable.

Alastair, for students that feel that something may not feel quite right, but are unsure of why, what can they do as a first step to explore their feelings?

See the chaplain, Student Experience officer, Residential life support team or make direct contact with our college counselor. We also have developed a Mental Health Procedure for staff and students – Please see attached.

Emotional wellbeing was a subject we focused on heavily during the 2017-18 academic year, and is part of a long-term strategy to support students in this way. Alastair, can you guide us through the highlights of the promotion of this topic, and how we are maintaining the process we started?

The theme was adopted as a result of relevant information and statistics from the good practice guide for Colleges and Universities within the United Kingdom, which highlighted that one in four students, will suffer from some type of mental illness related issue. All programmes were designed to focus around this theme in order to help break the stigma often associated with mental illness.

Creating a space and dialogue to encourage students to talk openly about a very sensitive issue for many which is rarely discussed. In addition, we partnered with external agency resources, such as the Samaritans, Mind UK, Bracknell Forest Mental Health Support teams for further support and information, which was made available to all students and staff.

We continue to have strong links with Samarians Bracknell who has attended the college on several occasions to participate in assemblies and on occasion have been invited to college enrolment days. I believe one of the main highlights from the collaboration with Samaritans, we have created a space and removed the stigma associated with mental health and is perfectly ok to talk about this issue and normal to seek support from a counselor.

Finn, are there any useful apps you can recommend to students for additional support?

I enjoy apps like Any.do or Google Tasks to help me organise my life and eliminate stress/procrastination. I have also found that apps like Audible and podcast platforms help me learn new and interesting things (I think this is a key to staying motivated and rewarded).

When I need to relax apps like Calm and Headspace have a lot to offer. I also recommend limiting time on social media apps, it is too easy to lose hours scrolling through Instagram and Youtube.

As part of the student life offering, we provide Campus Ministries. Alastair, can you introduce Campus Ministries, and explain how the events and activities can help with mental health?

We offer a wide range of holistic programs, which include physical exercise, which is vital to assist students with wellbeing and combatting mental health. In 2014, I introduced a ministry called prayer run, it became so successful that myself and three students from the group ran our first Reading half marathon in 2015 and we all raised funds for local charities and ADRA UK.

What could a student do to help a friend that may be in need of support, Finn?

It is very hard to change people, so the best thing to do is to simply be there for someone and to listen when they need it. This is the best way to show kindness to others and to be a friend. If we can all be more like this from day to day, this campus and the world will become a better place.

Alastair, for students that feel that something may not feel quite right, but are unsure of why, what can they do as a first step to explore their feelings?

See the chaplain, Student Experience officer, Residential life support team or make direct contact with our college counselor. We also have developed a Mental Health Procedure for staff and students – please click here to view it.