Drop-ins

How Group Singing can help promote Mental well-being

Positive feelings:  Singing has been shown to be a joyful and uplifting experience. It generates a sense of positive mood, happiness and enjoyment. Such positive feelings also counteract feelings of stress or anxiety and help to distract you from internal negative thoughts and feelings.

Expectation and hope:  Enjoyable activities such as singing with others are things you will look forward to each week. They can become highlights of the week and positive memories remain alive for hours and days afterwards. Where an activity involves working towards a goal such as a performance, there are enhanced expectations of rewarding outcomes.

Self-belief:  A change of identity can occur for people with mental health issues by participating in group singing, from thinking of themselves as choir members. This can raise a sense of self-esteem and confidence and performance events can bring a sense of social recognition and status. Performances help to reduce stigma and labelling by others.

Abilities and skills:  Confidence is brought about by the ability to repeat previously learned tasks or skills (including social skills), with a high degree of accuracy. Successful skills might also help to improve success in new, related skills, when tried for the first time. Learning new songs or harmonising parts of songs, can help concentration and focus, and stimulate learning and memory. Concentration can also provide a distraction from other concerns, leading to respite from them.

Social support and networking:  Singing in a group offers the opportunity to build social capital, encourage social inclusion and raised status of the members, and creates an opportunity for communities to come together.

Organisation and structure:  Structure is something that is easily lost when your not well. People can feel adrift and disconnected. Having the purpose and goal of attending a weekly group can be motivating and create an anchor upon which other weekly activities might build.

The aim of the Recovery College Choir is to encourage having fun, build confidence and inspire hope in recovery. 

You do not need to have any experience of singing, nor any particular talent.
Fulwell Community Resource Centre, Fulwell Road, Sunderland, SR69QW

Starting: Every Monday
Sessions:  Ongoing
Time: 12:00pm to 1:00pm

We offer optional One-to-One Personal Development sessions to students and volunteers.

These give you a chance to go through your learning journey booklet with a member of the team and discuss your achievements so far at Sunderland Recovery College. You may be surprised how far you’ve come since you started the college!

Maybe you would like to discuss which of our courses you would like to do next, to progress on to a course in the community, to volunteer somewhere or to move on to employment.

If you would like to book a Personal Development session, please contact a member of the recovery college team on:

Fulwell Community Resource Centre, Fulwell Road, Sunderland, SR69QW

Starting:  Monday to Friday
Sessions: Ongoing
Time: Ring to book a time slot

Contact: 01915612276,  01915612260

Please note that usual enrolment procedures still apply for courses and workshops; attending a Personal Development session does not guarantee students a place on any particular course or workshop.

Come and join us for a relaxed session where you will see the benefits of playing board games as you unplug your brain from the everyday stresses of life.

Come and join us and learn how to play this  great game and have some fun!

Hopefully you will no longer think about your bills, problems or any other annoying nuisances

of the day.

Fulwell Community Resource Centre, Fulwell Road, Sunderland, SR69QW

Starting:  Thursdays
Sessions: Ongoing
Time: 1.00-3.00

Contact: 01915612276,  01915612260

The Health Champion programme aims to develop community leadership skills with FREE courses, so that passionate individuals can make a difference to health in their work, community and social networks.

We are looking for people who work or volunteer in Sunderland, who are concerned about current health issues and are interested in promoting healthy lifestyles.

The benefits of completing the five day training courses are that you can get involved in your community and gain new skills through access to training opportunities. You may improve your own health as well as friends and families.

The FREE training courses should be viewed like a jigsaw. You can do them in any order, at your own pace, and you can do just one or two courses, but to become a fully trained Health Champion you need to do ALL five training courses over a 12 month period.