Health and Wellbeing at The College of Animal Welfare
At The College of Animal Welfare and CAW Business School, we put the mental and physical wellbeing of our students and staff first. We want to empower our community to look after their health and wellbeing, and give them the resources they need to gain help if they need it.
Whether you’re suffering from stress, problems with sleep, feeling low or unable to cope, or simply need someone to talk to - it's ok to reach out for help and support if you need it. There are so many people, organisations, services and resources out there to help us cope during difficult times. At CAW, we offer lots of additional mental health support that our community can access free of charge, which you can read more about here.
If one of our students or staff members encounters a personal situation which they need advice or help with, in the first instance we encourage them to reach out to their teacher, head of course or line manager, who will be able to signpost them to appropriate support. If students prefer not to speak to their tutor, they can find details of organisations on the student notice boards at all centres that they may contact for professional help, covering a wide range of situations.
Counselling services available to all students
From time to time, we all struggle with problems at college, work or home, and need to talk to someone in confidence.
Whatever your situation, or what you need to talk about, counselling can help you to work through issues, give perspective and context to experiences and find ways of coping with and overcoming problems.
All our students and staff are able to access up to six free, confidential counselling sessions. Appointments are available face-to-face with Jill Dighton MBACP at Headland House or in her clinic in Grafham, Deborah Gould MBACP at Headland House or in St Netos, and with Mark Walsh at the Leeds centre or at the Satori Complementary Therapy Centre in Wakefield. Sessions are also available to all students by video conference, phone, FaceTime or similar.
All appointments must be made directly with Jill, Deborah and Mark. Please note the College is not made aware of any appointments made or the content of any session.
Jill Dighton - Tel: 07925 852 985 - Email: jill@jdighton.co.uk
Mark Walsh - Tel: 07905 611 591 - Email: mwalsh4@sky.com
Deborah Gould - Tel: 07731 410959 - Email: DeborahGouldCounselling@gmail.com
If you would prefer to find your own source of support you can find a list of qualified counsellors or psychotherapists here.
CAW Peer Mentor Scheme
Here at CAW we understand that college can feel a little daunting, particularly during the pandemic. It may feel like it is a struggle to strike up friendships and settle into college life.
We want our students to make the most of their time with us. Not only do we aspire for our students to progress academically, but we also want to enable our students to develop as a person, nurture friendships and truly enjoy their time with us.
That’s why we set up the CAW Peer Mentor Scheme. This scheme offers students the chance to create connections with their peers and to share hints and tips for settling in at college.
Togetherall - mental wellbeing support for all staff and students
All our staff and students can access online mental health and wellbeing support through Together All (formerly Big White Wall). This service can be used at any time of the day or night, all year round.
Together All can help you get support, take control and feel better. The service enables members to get things off their chest in a safe, anonymous global community. You can access a library of self-care resources, including clinical tests, tips and guided group courses covering a range of topics. Trained professionals are online 24/7 to keep all members safe and provide extra support. Together All can help with adopting useful coping strategies and behaviours to help improve mental health and wellbeing. On Together All, people are totally anonymous to other members, and personal information is kept secure. The college is not informed of those who are signed up to Together All or activity on the service unless they are seriously concerned about safety whilst on campus.
Accessing Together All - Students
- Visit https://togetherall.com/en-gb/
- Click ‘Register’
- Select “I’m from a university or college”
- Enter your college email address (surname in lowercase + your six-digit VLE number + “@caw.ac.uk”). Example: surname123456@caw.ac.uk If you don’t already have access to this email account, follow next set of instructions (below).
- Log into your email to confirm your registration.
- 6. The Big White Wall website will then walk you through all of its’ features
Log into your Student email and Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 is a free service provided by CAW for its’ students. It gives you all the software required for your studies (Word, PowerPoint, etc). It is available as a download or you can work on documents online through any of your devices as well as dedicated apps. Registration is easy, so what are you waiting for?
- Visit https://www.office.com/login/
- Enter your student email address (surname in lowercase + your six-digit VLE number + “@caw.ac.uk”):
- surname123456@caw.ac.uk
- Click ‘Next’
- Then select “Forgotten my password”
This will send an email to your personal email address that you typically use with CAW.
Follow the link contained within this email and set your new password Access your student email by visiting https://www.outlook.com and signing in with your student email.
Living Well
At The College of Animal Welfare, we make sure our students and staff have access to the most useful and up-to-date guidance and advice about their physical and mental wellbeing. All members of our community can access a hub of health and wellness information via the "Living Well" section of our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This area includes:
- A "Living Well" course - this course looks at the little tweaks or changes you can make to your lifestyle, which can make a real difference to your health and happiness
- Resources on mental wellbeing, eating well and getting active
- Information, advice and guidance on sexual health
- Health and safety information for students, employers and practices
Safeguarding
Do you want to speak with somebody about a safeguarding issue? If so, please contact one of the Safeguarding Officers.
Safeguarding contact number: 01480 422070
Email: safeguarding@caw.ac.uk
Wigan Centre
- Barbara Cooper - bcooper@caw.ac.uk
- Kim James - kjames@caw.ac.uk
Huntingdon Centre
- Barbara Cooper - bcooper@caw.ac.uk
- Kim James - kjames@caw.ac.uk
- Mel Young - myoung@caw.ac.uk
- Deborah Gould -dgould@caw.ac.uk
North London Centre
- Claire Defries - cdefries@caw.ac.uk
Distance Learners and Work-based Learners
- Barbara Cooper - bcooper@caw.ac.uk
- Kim James - kjames@caw.ac.uk
The Safeguarding Officers have responsibility for managing and reporting concerns about students and for putting into place procedures to safeguard students at the College.
Keeping Safe Online Resources
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy – COVID-19 Arrangements
Additional Resources
- Mental Health Foundation – Looking after your mental health during the Coronavirus outbreak
- Mind – Coronavirus and your wellbeing
- Mental Health England – Supporting your mental health while working from home
- Samaritans – If you’re worried about your mental health during the coronavirus outbreak
- Vetlife– Mental health support and financial assistance for the veterinary community including veterinary nurses and students
- Student Minds - The UK's student mental health charity
- Staying Safe - a potentially life-saving resource to keep people safe from thoughts of harm and suicide.
- Keep Your Head - Information on mental health and wellbeing across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
- Anxiety UK – a charity providing support for those with an anxiety condition.
- Bipolar UK – a charity helping people living with bipolar disorder.
- CALM – Campaign Against Living Miserably, for men aged 15 – 35.
- Men's Health Forum – 24/7 stress support for men by text, chat and email.
- The Mental Health Foundation – providing information and support for anyone with mental health problems or learning disabilities.
- No Panic – voluntary charity offering support for sufferers of panic attacks and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
- OCD Action – support for people with OCD. Includes information on treatment and online resources.
- Papyrus – young suicide prevention society.
- Rethink Mental Illness – support and advice for people living with mental illness.
- BEAT Eating disorders - support and advice for those living with an eating disorder.
- Samaritans - talk to someone in confidence 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- SHOUT in a crisis. Get 24/7 help from a team of crisis volunteers by texting 85258.