Proposals include:-
- Residents and relevant staff are being trained to deliver Psychological First Aid amongst their communities
- In places that have flooded, there will be campaigns to raise awareness of the support available through mental health charities, including green prescribing
- Events will be held twice a year within flood risk communities to help improve their wellbeing, promote community togetherness and help them deal with the impact of flooding on mental health.
The plan is to reach thousands of residents, initially targeting those living in Mirfield, Middlemost Pond, Radulf Gardens, Holme and Colne catchments. It is to fund a mental health charity for three years to provide support. There will be a review of the scheme to explore how learning can be applied to extend it to a wider area.
Who will provide the service?
We will work with a local charity providing a range of practical and preventative mental health and wellbeing engagements across Kirklees to support individuals to maintain and improve their wellbeing.
They will offer:-
- Welcome sessions for residents to get support tailored to their individual needs in comfortable, non-clinical, community settings and be signposted to specialist services if needed
- Regular sessions for small groups in the community bring people together in safe social situations to learn new skills, share existing ones, and meet people with common interests, experiences or goals
- Wellbeing days are held outdoors twice a year in each community with a focus on green prescribing and getting outdoors in nature. These could involve bushcraft, horticulture and conservation activities, Natural Flood Management such as tree planting, and climate change awareness activities. There will also be bi-monthly smaller events held throughout the year
Wellbeing Packs offering practical, wellbeing activities, resilience-building tips and key support services information.
Survey – What is impact of flooding on the mental health of at risk communities?
A large-scale online survey is being carried out amongst communities at risk of flooding by researchers at the Healthy Housing Initiative, University of Huddersfield as part of this project. The aim is to help reduce the impact on the mental health of flood victims and provide them with the vital support they need.
The aim of this 12 month project is to develop new innovative and effective approaches to mitigate flood risks and improve flood resilience for communities. It will provide evidence which will be used to inform delivery of mental health services by Kirklees Council for people affected by flooding. To take the survey use the QR code below.
Distributed amongst communities at risk of flooding through flood groups, flood managers and community workers.
Conducted with people in households which have been flooded or are at risk of flooding.
To help come up with new solutions and design resources, such as a toolkit that would help people prepare for flood events.
Ultimately, the survey will help flood managers understand:-
- Is flooding having an impact on residents’ mental health and if so at what scale?
- What support is available to residents, do they know how to access it and are there any barriers preventing them from getting help?
- What can the council do to improve the situation?
- What do communities need to help improve their mental health and wellbeing in relation to flooding and other risks?
Creating Opportunities through Local Innovation Fellowships
The £33,000 project has been funded by Kirklees Council and a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded initiative called Creating Opportunities through Local Innovation Fellowships (COLIF). These are typically short-term funding programmes focused on advanced research. The Fellowship will build on the existing framework developed through WYFLIP and support collaboration between academic institutions, including the University of Huddersfield and Liverpool, local authorities and community organisations to work together to come up with practical, scalable solutions to key issues. The primary goal of COLIF is to promote local innovation and reduce regional inequalities by bringing together different sectors to work on shared challenges.
