Health & Wellbeing

Mental Health Awareness Week organised by The Mental Health Foundation runs every year in May. This year’s theme is ‘Nature.’

To find out more about the week, plus an introduction to mindfulness and a nature themed mindfulness session click here.

Reading Well supports you to understand and manage your health and wellbeing using helpful reading. The books are all recommended by health experts, as well as people with experience of the conditions and topics covered and their relatives and carers.

Anyone can drop in to one of our libraries and borrow these titles, you do not need a prescription and the books are borrowed on a normal library card.

Don’t forget we have self issue machines in our libraries so it’s really easy to borrow and return the books in confidence.

The collections are:

• Common mental health conditions
• Dementia
• Young people’s mental health
• Long term (physical) conditions
• Reading Well for children

Details of the titles in each collection can be found on the Reading Well website. Some of the titles are also available as eBooks and eAudio – check to see what is available here. 

Reading Well is a national scheme delivered by the Reading Agency and supported by public libraries.

Reminiscence packs to support people with dementia and their carers 

Designed to help people at various stages of memory loss, their carers, friends and family, they help to stimulate and encourage sharing memories.

Each ‘memory pack’ is a collection of picture books, photographs, jigsaws, DVDs, music and other resources on a theme.

Topics include:

• Daily Life
• Local interest e.g. Old Market Square
• Holidays
• Working Life
• Childhood
• Specific decades e.g 1950s

They are available to borrow free of charge using any of the following options:

1. Reserve online to be picked up at any Nottingham Library. Search for ‘memory pack’ on the Library Catalogue 
2. Visiting Aspley Library to choose from what’s in stock
3. Ask staff at any Nottingham library to search and reserve one for you

(reservations are free for memory packs and you can borrow up to 2 at a time)

Online mini-memory packs:

We recently put together some mini versions of these packs and you can find and enjoy them here

Are you a health professional?

Talk to the staff at Aspley Library about borrowing memory packs for work with your clients.

If you’re not a Nottingham City Library member find out how to join here.

Search the catalogue for books about healthy living and health conditions.

Visit a library for books and leaflets or to use a computer.

All library loans are confidential and with self-service machines in every library it is possible to reserve and collect items without asking the staff.

Useful links to other local support and resources:

ASKLiON helpful links and information including for adult social care, self care, loneliness, healthy lifestyles, special educational needs and disability.

Every Mind Matters, 1 in 4 people living in England experience a problem with their mental health each year. Every Mind Matters offers links to trusted advice and apps, quizzes and videos, plus lots of tips and self-referral for talking therapies. This interactive website focuses on the eight most common issues; stress, anxiety, trouble sleeping, low mood, panic, social anxiety, trauma, and obsessions and compulsions.

Insight Nottingham Insight talking therapies is a free and confidential service, commissioned by the NHS, and is available to anyone aged 18+ and living in Nottingham City.

Let’s talk wellbeing 

NHS Nottingham for Nottingham University Hospitals, including contact details and maps, services for patients.  

Nottingham Mencap offer advocacy and support to individuals and their families/carers, with ages ranging from five to eighty years.

Nottinghamshire Sexual Violence Support Services to help anyone aged 13+ and have experienced rape, sexual violence or childhood sexual abuse, either recently or in the past.

Patient UK trusted help with general health and wellbeing

Self-help UK for groups across Nottingham and nationwide, on health, medical conditions and life situations. A hard copy of their directory is available for reference use in all City Libraries.

Sexual health services confidentially helping over 28,000 people every year with contraception and concerns about sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Trent PTS Support for people in Nottingham with mental health issues.

Wellness in Mind Mental health help and support in Nottingham.

We have links to more help available in our Discover & Get Involved page, designed to support wellbeing in difficult times.

We have a ‘Parents’ information and book collection in every library; from child development to entertaining your children.

There are also lots of social activities including:

• Totstimes for under 5s at all of our libraries. Parents and carers come along to share stories and rhymes in a group session led by library staff.

Reading for pleasure has been linked to a reduction in stress and the symptoms of depression, plus, lowering the chance of developing dementia in later life. Libraries can help start the reading habit early.

There are also regular and special events for children of all ages:

under 5s         5-11 years   12-19 years

This campaign was launched in the summer of 2020 and is designed to help kickstart your way to better health. The Better Health website has a range of tools and support to help – so find what works for you. 

From free apps to advice for type 2 Diabetics to money saving discounts for nationally available diet and fitness schemes, it’s worth taking a look. Click to visit the website here.

All these local organisations help to support mental health in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

The Nottinghamshire Crisis Sanctuaries will provide mental health crisis support to local communities across the county and city.  Provided in partnership between Nottinghamshire Mind, Turning Point, Framework and Harmless, the Crisis Sanctuaries are open to anyone over 18 who feels they are in, or near, a mental health crisis and need a safe space to talk.

Each Crisis Sanctuary will have trained Crisis Intervention Workers who will provide out-of-hours mental health support in a trusted and secure space. Support can also be provided via telephone or through video calling platforms for those who are unable to attend in person. During lockdown citizens should call the telephone number of their nearest sanctuary and the team will talk through how best they can help.

Each Sanctuary is open at each location twice a week. Full addresses, contact details and times of opening are now available on the Crisis Sanctuary website (see link above), updated regularly.

The Nottinghamshire Mental Health Helpline offers access to support for people who need emotional support or information about their mental health. You can call 0300 555 0730, 9am – 11pm 7 days a week.

If you’re in a mental health crisis, the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust Crisis Helpline can arrange for you to speak with a mental health professional and also advise you about other services which can help you. You can call 0808 196 3779, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Wellness in Mind Mental health help and support in Nottingham.

Insight Nottingham Insight talking therapies is a free and confidential service, commissioned by the NHS, and is available to anyone aged 18+ and living in Nottingham City.

Let’s talk wellbeing 

Trent PTS Support for people in Nottingham with mental health issues.

1 in 4 people living in England experience a problem with their mental health each year.

For links to trusted advice and apps visit Every Mind Matters, you’ll also find quizzes and videos, plus lots of tips and self-referral for talking therapies.

This interactive website focuses on the eight most common issues; stress, anxiety, trouble sleeping, low mood, panic, social anxiety, trauma, and obsessions and compulsions.

Public Health England’s campaign aims to raise public awareness about mental health and how we can all do things to stay well.

For information on Macmillan Cancer Information Centre at Nottingham City Hospital or the Queens Medical Centre, please see the dedicated NHS page.

Although it is currently closed, when Nottingham Central Library is able to reopen, there will be a a dedicated information stand with a range of booklets for people affected by cancer, their family, friends and carers. A list of titles is available here.

There are lots of free regular activities that can help with your personal wellbeing, from reading groups to totstimes, meet up with people and have fun or learn something new. 

Visit the library regular activities page for more information.

Throughout the year special events focusing on health and wellbeing happen in Nottingham City Libraries, visit our special events calendar page.