This time of year it's important to be taking care of our emotional health and wellbeing, taking time to step outside in daylight and finding experiences that bring us joy.
Here you will find self help, information, resources and ideas for keeping emotionally well this winter and embracing winter wellness
Public Health have developed this quick guide for young people and families providing signposting to self-help resources and national & local service support.
Mental health support for families and young people
Please share with families through your usual channels and include on your website
Experienceing the outdoors, frsh air and connecting with nature holds significant benifits for improving our physical, emotional and mental health.
Get Outside in Somerset is helping our community to get outdoors and move in more ways that suit you.
Home Page - Get outside in Somerset
Mental Wellbeing Lifehacks for coping with covid-19
This guide offers ideas and guidance written with young people for young people and can be found Here
To share your worries anonymously and get support from other young people, download the free MeeToo app from Google Play and Apple App Store
For more information visit www.meetoo.help
The Five Ways to Wellbeing are a set of evidence-based actions which promote people’s wellbeing. They are: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give. These areas are simple things individuals can do in their everyday lives.
What activities could you try in these 5 areas?
These may alter in the winter months, such as swapping a daily jog for a brisk winter walk or yoga.
Little Book of Mental Health 
A practical guide for everyday emotional wellbeing
This booklet is aimed at young people aged 16 years plus. It provides helpful tips for staying healthy and a list of local and national organisations for additional help and advice.
The little book of mental health
Mental Health Toolkit
This area of the Somerset Children and Young People's Health & Wellbeing website provides information and support about mental health and emotional health & wellbeing.
This site now also includes R;pple toolkit -
R;pple aims to minimise the risks of the internet, while harnessing its potential for good
Somerset children & young people : Mental Health Toolkit
How to Thrive at Christmas
Young people share their top tips for coping during the festive season
How to Thrive at Christmas.pdf
Kooth: A handy guide for parents and carers
Action for Happiness are encouraging us all to carry out small acts of kindness. This has been another difficult year of uncertainty and ups and downs for many of us. Kindness is contagious, and helping others has been proven to make us feel better too! Let's try to focus on being generous with our time and attention rather than money - it's free and better for everyone, as well as our planet!
Action for Happiness - Do Good December
Download this poster here
Christmas Safety in the home
Child unintentional injury
The vast array of potentially hazardous objects in our homes this Christmas is scarily clear. The good news is that protecting your family and friends from these dangers isn’t hard to do:
- Take care choosing where you buy from
- Look out for quality marks
- Understand the links between accidents and child development.
A CE mark is required by law on any toy sold in the EU. It is the manufacturer’s claim that the toy complies with European safety legislation.
A Lion Mark is a good indicator of a toy’s safety. It shows that the product has been made by a member of the British Toy and Hobby Association, to a high standard of safety and quality.
- Tips to help keep your family safe from button batteries this Christmas - captbuttonbatterya3poster-3.3.21.pdf
You’ll find lots more battery information and safety tips and what to do in an emergency on our website Here
- Accidents can be prevented, more information available here: Main causes of accident and injury | Child Accident Prevention Trust (capt.org.uk)
- Free educational resources Child Safety Week | Child Accident Prevention Trust (capt.org.uk)
- Christmas safety - RoSPA
- For information and support for fire safety in the home visit - Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service
Whether you want to understand more about how you're feeling and find ways to feel better, or you want to support someone who's struggling, we can help.
YoungMinds | Mental Health Charity For Children And Young People | YoungMinds
