Cork Education and Training Board has launched an online wellbeing programme to help combat lockdown isolation and teach lifelong skills.
The Creative Steps to Wellbeing video programme also aims to help people ‘stay connected while staying apart’, given the unprecedented numbers of people reporting poor mental health, loneliness and isolation due to the government's Covid lockdown.
Adult education officer Ger Canning said: “Many people who, for a variety of reasons including but not limited to literacy difficulties, marginalisation, disability and anxiety, would normally be able to access our extensive community education services in Cork city and county are now missing the engagement and benefits of face-to-face group contact. Through this project, we are attempting to fill this void while providing an opportunity to learn and develop in an online space.”
The resource was developed with funding provided by the Mitigating Against Educational Disadvantage (MAED) fund, which was recently launched by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and SOLAS.
Cork ETB has received €950,000 taxpayer funding under the scheme, and €10,000 has been spent on producing the ‘Creative Steps' programme, consisting of workshops on the themes of:
In Association with
- Crushing anxiety
- Defeating the ego
- Stress reduction
- Dealing with grief & loss
- Goal setting
- Yoga – building your immune system
- Reflections/meditations
- Mindfulness
- Art therapies
- Life stories.
There’s also a section on healthy home cooking and a selection of ‘music for the soul’. The programme is aimed at Cork ETB’s staff as well as learners, and can be accessed here.
