Timetable April to June 2024

Monday

09:00-10:00 Yoga Online Group
11:30-12:00 Goal Setting Online Group
12:00-13:30 Creative Writing Online Group
18:00-19:00 The Self-Care Hour (Rotating weeks) Online Group

Tuesday

09:00-11:00 Chatty Tuesday Whitstable
09:30-10:00 Breath & Meditation Online Group
09:30-10:30 Tai Chi Online Group
10:00-11:00 Cuppa Club Whitstable
10:00-11:00 Make, Mend and Motivate Whitstable
10:00-11:30 Perinatal Mental Health Support Group Margate
10:30-12:00 Wellbeing Walk EKM Umbrella Herne Bay
10:30-12:30 Men’s Group Online Group
12:00-12:45 Pilates Online Group
14:00-15:00 Men’s Talk Group Herne Bay
14:00-16:00 What Next – Peer Support Group (Monthly, second Tuesday of the month) Ramsgate
14:00-16:00 Creative Art Ramsgate
14:00-16:00 Positivity – 3-week course online
18:00-18:45 Yoga Online Group
18:00-20:00 Stress and Anxiety – 3-week course online

Wednesday

09:30-10:30 Photography For Fun Online Group
09:30-10:30 Mend, Make and Motivate Online Group
10:00-11:30 Women’s Wellness Group Whitstable
10:00-12:00 Confidence and Assertiveness – 4-week course
10:00-14:00 Gardening at Kent Community Organic Garden Canterbury
10:30-12:00 Wellbeing Walk Thanet (various locations)
14:00-16:00 Creative Writing Ramsgate
16:00-17:30 Together We Can Online Group
18:00-19:00 Men’s Talk Whitstable

Thursday

10:00-11:30 Women’s Wellness Group Whitstable
10:30-12:30 Make, Mend and Motivate Herne Bay
12:00-12:45 Pilates Online Group
13:00-14:30 Perinatal Mental Health Support Group Online Group
13:00-15:00 Green Wellbeing – EKM Gardening group Kent Community Oasis Garden
14:00-16:00 Stress and Anxiety – 3-week course
15:30-18:30 Revival Lates Whitstable
18:30-21:30 Young Revival Whitstable

Friday

09:00-09:45 Yoga Online Group
10:00-11:00 Test Your Brain Online Group
10:00-14:00 Gardening at Kent Community Organic Garden Canterbury
10:30-12:30 Make, Mend & Motivate Ramsgate
13:00-14:30 Perinatal Mental Health Support Group Online Group
14:00-16:00 Music For Fun Online Group
14:00-16:00 5 Ways to Wellbeing Ramsgate

Sunday

10:00-11:30 Walking for Wellbeing Group Whitstable

Information on Activities

Face-to-Face Groups

Enjoy a practical, interesting and interactive course on how to improve our wellbeing.

The course will be at the East Kent Mind office in Ramsgate and take place over six weeks starting on Friday 10 May.

Please register online and book your place.

Pop in for a chat from 10-3pm, our friendly staff and volunteers are extra aware today of anyone dining alone and will turn up the talk to brighten your day.

If you know someone living alone, new to the area, retired, lonely or in anyway needing a friendly face and chat do point them in our direction, quietest times are before 11 and after 2pm (open 10-3pm)

It’s also a good opportunity to make the time to meet the friend you have been meaning to catch up with – see this as your reminder – make the time to talk

Revival, where community blossoms on the High Street in Whitstable.

Combat mental health challenges like loneliness and isolation, anxiety, and depression through the power of art and creative activities.

Find peer support in a safe and welcoming creative community. Let’s create together and build a path to brighter days.

Please register for these sessions.

Location: 34 King Street, Ramsgate CT11 8NT

If you want to write a story, read a story, play word-games and experience gentle learning and have fun within a group of like-minded people, then you are welcome to come along and join us at this weekly group. You can increase your word power and broaden your horizons at your own pace.

34 King Street, Ramsgate CT11 8NT

Informal meet and chat circle to connect, make friends and be part of your community. Free Tea, Coffee and biscuits.

The Kent COG garden is a multiuse, accessible, safe space that provides opportunities for students, staff and the community to engage with sustainable food, biodiversity, gardening, community action and mental health and wellbeing activities, whilst making new friends, getting some time outdoors, building up skills, confidence and making new links.

We offer 2 weekly sessions on Wednesdays and Fridays for participants to engage with general gardening activities. Individuals can just turn up and spend between 1 and 4 hours per session outdoors, working with a facilitator or other professional in a group setting, taking part in growing activities, sharing knowledge and learning new skills. In addition, we offer monthly Saturday sessions focused on developing and maintaining wellbeing for all, and seasonal Sunday sessions, promoting sustainability and exploring our connection with the natural environment.

KentCOG are eager to liaise with individuals to make the programme appropriate for their needs. We are experienced in working with a variety of needs and our site is partially accessible for wheelchair users. We are working towards creating a fully accessible site and any feedback is welcome. We are happy to show students and staff around the garden and discuss their particular needs or requirements, as well as offering additional sessions to try out activities and to discuss ideas.

The programme can be accessed by visiting the garden on a regular basis throughout the year, or by liaising with staff at the University or via Mind to agree a specific block of sessions for individuals or groups which can be delivered on site.

Green your wellbeing this summer and come along and join the EKM Gardening group at the Kent Community Oasis Garden.

We will be running weekly seasonal gardening activities within a small friendly group, specifically for those who want to improve their wellbeing by spending time in nature. No gardening knowledge required, just a willingness to have a go.

Please register online and book your place.

Come and join our Mood Menders at our Face To Face two-hour workshops. A welcoming space to learn, share new skills, meet or make new friends. Restore and relax.

Locations: Herne Bay, Ramsgate and Whitstable

Social late night café for young people.

Men’s Talk is a drop in for men where you can unwind, talk, listen and make local connections in a friendly supportive social space.

Walking for wellbeing is open to all. It is a friendly relaxed group helping you to connect with nature, the community and your local area. You can walk and talk, walk and watch or just walk your way knowing you are not alone.

We meet in various locations within the Canterbury District and walk for about an hour from 10am every Sunday, details can be found on our Facebook events – Walking for Wellbeing Revival East Kent Mind

Join our friendly and relaxed groups helping you to connect with nature, the community and your local area.

You can walk and talk, walk and watch, or just walk with us knowing that you are not alone.

Please register online and book your place.

A monthly group to meet others and find out what is next for you!

34 King Street, Ramsgate CT11 8NT

The group is a friendly, welcoming female space for all ages to come together to chat, listen, share wellbeing journeys and support each other. See our social media for details:

Facebook Group: Women’s Wellness Peer Support Group (Revival)

“Holding Space for Young People” Providing a safe social ‘café’ and creative space for young people under the age of 25. Activities include creative workshops, craft circles, board games, PS5 gaming, cinema nights and more.

Online Groups

Our Creative Writing group is every Monday from 12pm-1.30pm

Would you like to experience gentle learning and give time to developing your writing skills? Maybe you sense you have a short story or poem you would like to write. Learning new skills can improve our mental wellbeing giving us a sense of purpose and helping us connect to others.

In this group, there is guided learning such as an inspiring thought or theme or discussion and a variety of activities to help us express ourselves. These may include reading a story, sharing a poem or playing word games.

This is an online group so, for your own writing, either have pen and paper or laptop at the ready.

Breathing and Meditation is learning to relax and learning to integrate the mind and body to reduce any physical sensations that cause discomfort within the body.

Breathing techniques and meditation can help reduce stress, anxiety and negative emotions.

It can reduce physical and psychological tension, calming your emotions and improving focus and concentration.

Join Goal Setting to build on changing your week.
Together we will turn your goals into plans and your plans into actions by thinking big but acting small.
You will be asked what it is you would like to achieve over the coming week and then through discussion with your peers, we will find what method would suit you best. So, you can come back the next week for the celebration of:

“YOU DID IT”

This group is your time to put aside two hours for arts, craft, making, mending and DIY. Grab a cup of tea and the project you are working on to meet like-minded crafters for inspiration, tips and giggles. Don’t know what to bring? Still come along to get the motivation.

Creating is a form of self-care, it benefits you and those around you. It can help you feel more able to cope with situations.

The Men’s Group is an informal, friendly and supportive group where you meet others to talk about a range of topics including your own wellbeing.

This group helps to build good supportive relationships which are important for our mental wellbeing. These friendships can build a sense of belonging, give us opportunity to share positive experiences and provide emotional support.

Please register and book your place online.

Music for Fun is an opportunity for people to come together and pick a piece of music.

Every participant gets a chance to select a song of their choice to be played to the group and are given time to talk about their selection.

This is a relaxed group with great discussion.

Please register and book your place online.

In this group, we encourage each other to take notice of what is around us by taking photos on a theme. Taking notice enables us to be in the moment and can help you to feel more positive about life.

Each week we start by looking at the photos of those attending the group have taken during the week. We enjoy talking about the photos, where these were taken and exploring the different styles.

Then a different theme is suggested for the next week such as animals, doors, weather, ‘why is that there’, food. During the week you notice what is around you and take photos on the theme.

No photography skills are needed and you can use a camera or your mobile phone. Please register and book your place online.

Pilates, pronounced “Puh-Lah-Tees”, takes its name from Joseph Pilates who was born in Germany in 1880.

Pilates believed mental and physical health were closely connected. His method was influenced by western forms of exercise, including gymnastics, boxing and Greco-Roman wrestling. He immigrated to the US in the 1920s and opened a studio in New York, where he taught his method – which he called Contrology – for several decades. Pilates mat-work classes are not only fun, they are designed to help you improve flexibility and strength. Small equipment such as bands, toning circles and balls are used during mat-work classes to help you achieve better movement patterns and provide you with more awareness of your body – and of course to challenge you! Our instructors cater to each individual, offering alternative movements if required so there is never a reason to feel worried about your ability.

This group will run every two weeks, it is your time to learn new and exciting ways to care for yourself.

You will be shown a variety of different methods and ways to add them into your routine – all the while having the support and encouragement from other group members.

Mondays (fortnightly)

Tai chi is an ancient Chinese tradition that is practiced as a graceful form of exercise.

It involves a series of movements performed in a slow, focused manner and accompanied by deep breathing.

Tai chi, also called tai chi chuan, is a non-competitive, self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching.

Each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that your body is in constant motion.

Please register and book your place online.

You are invited to join us on online for quizzes, memory games, spelling tests, Boggle, spot the difference, maths problems and much more…

All you need is a pen and paper. No scores are read aloud, this is all for fun!

Please register and book your place online.

In this group, we are going to encourage each other to get those jobs done!

Whatever is on your To Do List – bring it along (with a cup of tea) and get tips from your peers on the best way to achieve what you want, as you are doing it!

From sorting your bills/benefits, decluttering, craft projects, homework from another group or a course you are doing, DIY, selfcare/glow ups, housework, journaling, planning, creative writing, gardening, shopping lists and so much more…
Please register and book your place online.

A gentle but energising all levels practice. Focusing on mindful movements, connection to breath, refreshing stretches and some strengthening poses, this practice will set you up for whatever your day brings. Open to all, including beginners.

The benefits of practicing Yoga include, but are not limited to:

  • Reduction in anxiety, stress and worry
  • Increased strength and flexibility
  • Take time for yourself
  • Increase focus
  • Prepare the body and mind for your day
  • Connection to breath and calming techniques

Please register and book your place online.

Courses

The course aims to increase group members’ self-awareness, coping mechanisms in stressful situations and teach techniques to enable individuals to plan positively for the future.

The course is in modules and covers:

  • Building confidence
  • Self-awareness and building positive self-image
  • Stress management
  • Assertiveness
  • Goal planning

The course runs for six weeks. Thursdays 10am–12pm

The Perinatal courses will run over six weeks and cover you and your baby’s wellbeing, understanding worries and anxiety, managing low mood, learning and sharing self-help techniques, your support circle and signposting.

For more information and news about dates/time please visit: eastkentmind.org.uk/perinatal/

A positive self-image is key to living a happy and healthy life.

Research shows that people who feel confident in themselves can problem solve and make better decisions, take more risks, assert themselves and strive to meet their personal goals.

Aims of the workshop:

  • Provide the participants with a better understanding of what is positive thinking, how it impacts and how to develop it
  • Enable a greater self-awareness
  • Equip the participants in effective techniques for changing attitudes
  • Support wellbeing

Course content:

  • What is positive thinking?
  • Why is positive thinking the key to a successful life?
  • How to develop the skill of positive thinking

Anxiety and stress cause more sick days, illness and presenteeism than physical ailments. Discover the difference between stress and anxiety and why in combination they are the single biggest cause of concern for the working population.

Aims of the workshop:

  • Provide the participants with a better understanding of what is positive thinking, how it impacts and how to develop it
  • Enable a greater self-awareness
  • Equip the participants in effective techniques for changing attitudes
  • Support wellbeing

Course Content:

  • Typical causes of anxiety
  • How to become familiar with triggers
  • How to select coping strategies that work specifically for you

Workshop Timetable April to June 2024

  • 03/04/2024 WED 10:00 – 11:30 Mindfulness
  • 03/04/2024 WED 14:00 – 15:30 Mental Wellbeing with Nutrition & Lifestyle Interventions
  • 08/04/2024 MON 10:00 – 11:00 Healthy Mind and Body
  • 08/04/2024 MON 18:00 – 19:00 Routine Builders
  • 09/04/2024 TUE 10:00 – 12:00 Emotional Intelligence
  • 15/04/2024 MON 10:00 – 11:00 Money Management
  • 16/04/2024 TUE 10:00 – 12:00 Understanding Anxiety & Panic
  • 17/04/2024 WED 10:00 – 11:30 Journaling
  • 22/04/2024 MON 18:00 – 19:00 Healthy Mind and Body
  • 22/04/2024 MON 10:00 – 11:00 Routine Builders
  • 24/04/2024 WED 10:00 – 12:00 Sleep & Relaxation Techniques
  • 25/04/2024 THU 17:00 – 19:00 Autism Awareness
  • 01/05/2024 WED 10:00 – 12:00 Overcoming Loneliness
  • 01/05/2024 WED 10:00 – 11:30 Visualising Intentions and Affirmations
  • 01/05/2024 WED 14:00 – 15:30 Mental Wellbeing with Nutrition & Lifestyle Interventions
  • 08/05/2024 WED 10:00 – 12:00 Mental Health in the Workplace
  • 13/05/2024 MON 10:00 – 11:00 Money Management
  • 14/05/2024 TUE 10:00 – 12:00 Understanding Self-Harm
  • 15/05/2024 WED 10:00 – 11:30 Mindfulness
  • 20/05/2024 MON 10:00 – 11:00 Routine Builders
  • 21/05/2024 THU 10:00 – 12:00 Anger Management
  • 23/05/2024 THU 17:00 – 19:00 Low Mood & Depression
  • 29/05/2024 WED 10:00 – 11:30 Journaling
  • 29/05/2024 WED 10:00 – 12:00 Understanding Anxiety & Panic
  • 03/06/2024 MON 10:00 – 11:00 Healthy Mind and Body
  • 03/06/2024 MON 18:00 – 19:00 Routine Builders
  • 05/06/2024 WED 14:00 – 15:30 Mental Wellbeing with Nutrition & Lifestyle Interventions
  • 05/06/2024 WED 10:00 – 12:00 Sleep & Relaxation Techniques
  • 10/06/2024 MON 10:00 – 11:00 Money Management
  • 11/06/2024 THU 10:00 – 12:00 Body Image week 1
  • 12/06/2024 WED 10:00 – 11:30 Visualising Intentions and Affirmations
  • 12/06/2024 WED 10:00 – 12:00 Autism Awareness
  • 17/06/2024 MON 18:00 – 19:00 Money Management
  • 17/06/2024 MON 10:00 – 11:00 Routine Builders
  • 18/06/2024 THU 10:00 – 12:00 Body Image week 2
  • 19/06/2024 WED 10:00 – 12:00 Low Mood & Depression
  • 26/06/2024 WED 10:00 – 11:30 Mindfulness
  • 27/06/2024 THU 17:00 – 19:00 Emotional Intelligence

Workshop Descriptions

This workshop helps people to understand the cycle of anger and when certain types of anger become problematic.

During this workshop you will identify the causes of anger, the effects of anger on your health and your relationships and most importantly a variety of coping strategies to deal with anger. We help promote the use of self-awareness and self-reflection to aid anger management. Sometimes the simplest coping strategies are the most effective!

The workshop also promotes group participation and interaction with discussion points aimed to encourage participants to grasp a better understanding of the thoughts and patterns that surround anger.

This workshop has been designed to explore and understand how an autistic person experiences the world, in ways that a non-autistic person doesn’t.

It will help give a better understanding of those differences and the challenges autistic people can face as they navigate through life.

This workshop will run over a two-week period, split into two two-hour sessions. It will try to adjust your way of thinking about body-image and challenge the images of idealised bodies shown throughout the media that can negatively impact people’s perceptions of themselves.

The course aims to help you achieve:

  • An improved self-image
  • A more realistic approach to body-image

During the course we explore:

  • Body image and how it is affected
  • How external/internal factors influence how we think and feel
  • Body image in men and women
  • How to accept your body and not aspire to unrealistic ideals
  • How not everything in the media is as it seems
  • How body image affects mental health
  • Ways to overcome negative body image
  • Body image and eating disorders

This workshop aims to give you the ability to distinguish between helpful and unhelpful thinking patterns and how to manage negative emotions effectively. The hoped outcome is that you will become more self-aware, be able to regulate your emotions more effectively and to develop your social skills including empathy and understanding different perspectives.

Overall, the suggested tips and coping strategies should help you to start challenging your learnt behaviours; become more in tune with your emotions and in time build up your resilience.

This workshop promotes group participation and interaction with discussion points aimed to encourage participants to grasp a better understanding of emotional intelligence.

In this one-hour workshop, you will be given ideas, inspirations and encouragements to help you live a more balanced lifestyle. Achieving optimal health and wellbeing requires taking care of both your body and mind.

We will look at what we can do and can avoid doing to bring balance into our lives.

We all need to exercise, eat well, get enough sleep and practise self-care and in this workshop we will help you discover what methods suit you best.

In this workshop, we can learn to journal by expressing thoughts, feelings, inspirations or emotions through writing.

We will look at different journaling methods and how to get started.

You will need a pen and notebook to journal in.

This workshop looks at the key differences between low mood and depression and the psychological, physical, emotional, social and behavioural symptoms linked to both.

The main focus is looking at the many causes of depression and understanding them fully and the most effective coping strategies to help manage depression in daily life.

The workshop promotes group participation and interaction with discussion points aimed to encourage participants to grasp a better understanding of low mood and depression.

In this workshop, we explore the relationship between mental health and work, focusing on how to create a mentally healthy workplace and how to be supportive of colleagues while still looking after oneself. We will look at why mental health is just as important as physical health, and share information about local mental health services.

We can achieve so much for our mental and physical health with just a few diet and lifestyle adjustments, without too much effort or drastic changes. The workshops look at the impact of our food habits and what more nourishing simple choices we can integrate to support mental and physical wellbeing.

Diving into our human nature to gain a better understanding of some fundamental internal interactions and what can trigger a disharmonious state in order to have more control over our health. Full of practical tips, easy to implement for long-lasting changes, working with the greatest gifts nature has to offer.

Each monthly workshop has a different focus:

  •  The impact of the gut on the brain and how to optimise the connection
  •  The importance of calming the nervous system in order to heal mentally and physically
  •  How to improve our energy levels and the effect on our mood and mental wellbeing

Mindfulness is a way to incorporate calmness into your life to support your wellbeing. This mindfulness workshop encourages a positive mindful approach.

Through practical tools to gain understanding, it helps us develop an open mind and forgiveness of and acceptance towards ourselves and others.

The workshop includes a short guided mindful breathing meditation which can be used as a coping strategy when under stress or pressure from life, work or relationships.

In this workshop you will learn the importance of knowing where your money goes each month.

We will look at many ways to save on spending, how to budget our money, how to manage debt and where to seek help.

We are living through “the cost-of-living crisis”, Mind in Bexley would like to offer you the information you need to get your money in order and control your debts.

This workshop will define what is meant by loneliness, including the causes of loneliness and how it relates to mental health problems. There will also be advice on how to manage the feelings of loneliness and things you can do to develop yourself and feel content in your own company.

Want to start making the most of your time?

But don’t know how or where to start?

This workshop is for you!

You will be shown the benefits and importance of having a routine. We will then discuss methods for building and sticking to the routine that you really want.

Researchers have found that sleep and relaxation are important for us because it can support us in achieving:

  • Better productivity and concentration ● Lower weight gain risk ● Better calorie regulation ● Greater athletic performance ● Lower risk of heart disease ● More social and emotional intelligence ● Preventing depression ● Lower inflammation ● Stronger immune system

Aims of the Workshop

  • Simple relaxation methods, that promote health and general wellbeing ● The scientific background of why we sometimes can’t sleep ● Practical implementation in daily life ● How to relax yourself

This workshop is for those who would like to learn more about anxiety and panic.

We learn about different types of negative thinking patterns and share our own experiences of how we can relate to these.

We will explore different ideas on how we can turn negative reactions and thought patterns into positives by incorporating different healthy ways to wellbeing into our lives.

The Understanding Self-Harm Workshop is aimed at those wishing to increase their awareness of self harm and for those that wish to learn how to develop better coping strategies. The workshop looks at self harm facts and myths, how and why people may self harm and how to best manage and control urges.

The workshop promotes the use of cognitive coaching, self awareness and personal reflection. With discussion, participation in peer support group activities and exercises you will be able to explore how to incorporate what you learn into your daily life.

This workshop is a group where you will learn to use visualising skills to set intentions and affirmations using practical tools and guided meditation.

What do you intend to change in your life?

In this workshop, you will look at tools and meditation to help you set intentions and choose affirmations to help bring about positive change.