Our LE department has always taken the wellbeing of staff and students seriously, but it has obviously gained greater importance during the recent COVID-19 Coronavirus epidemic.
In March 2020, the LE building was locked down and remained so until May 2022. Now, staff and students work, study and research in a hybrid capacity, so positive wellbeing is still very much a priority for the department.
LE Wellbeing Advocate, Lynda Haines, sends out a weekly Wellbeing email to all staff packed with useful ideas and links to help everyone stay connected when hybrid working (i.e. balancing continuing to work from home with returning to the office part or full-time). Sources of support and advice are also provided for helping to deal with difficulties such as money problems, health issues and topical crisis such as the cost of living/energy. If you need support or counselling of any sort, please see the resource links at the bottom of this page.
Wellbeing is an intrinsic part of our department’s commitment to the University’s annual Green Impact Challenge, and as a platinum-winner, we have organised many successful initiatives including a 10,000 Step Challenge, an online book club, a virtual pub quiz, as well as fund-raising MacMillan Coffee Mornings, LandAid charity events and our annual Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day.
And every few weeks, Lynda (who is also our department’s Green Impact Coordinator and Sustainability Champion) sends out a BIG GREEN version of the Wednesday email to keep everyone up to date with our Green Impact project for the year, and packed with advice on caring for the many houseplants that staff and students have in their workspace and at home; seasonal gardening tips and suggestions (e.g. how to chit potatoes) and recipes to use the fruit, herbs and vegetables that people are growing. There's also an annual vegetable growing competition. In 2021 it was giant sunflowers and in 2022 it was biggest cucumbers. She also organises an annual Spring and Autumn photography competition, which is very popular.
For an up-to-date list of Wellbeing resources for staff, as well as scheduled events, visit Wellbeing
Dedicated sources of support for student wellbeing can be found at Student Wellbeing
For more information and how to get involved in Wellbeing at Land Economy please contact Lynda Haines
Here are the University’s support mechanisms should you need them. Regularly updated with new resources and sources of support, the University’s Wellbeing website has a comprehensive list of support services all offering a confidential service, and features external sources of help and support, including Togetherall, a free, anonymous, online support service monitored by health professionals and Qwell, an online counselling and wellbeing platform run by MIND (Cambs, Peterborough & S Lincs). The University’s internal sources of support include the Staff Counselling Service, Dignity at Work, Occupational Health, Disability Resource Centre and the Chaplaincy. There is also support HERE for those affected by the ongoing situation in Gaza. There’s also useful information on the University’s EDI webpages
LE Sustainability Champion & Green Impact Coordinator 25/03/24