‘Sam was suicidal when she asked us for help’
HELPING HAND Kelsey Hylland
Sam* was a very troubled 23-year-old university graduate when she turned to the unique health and wellbeing charity Body & Soul for help.
“Sam was in a dark place when she came to us in 2018,” recalls Kelsey Hylland, leader of the National Lottery-supported charity’s You Are Not Alone group therapy programme for young people aged 16 to 30 who have attempted suicide.
“She had struggled with mental health problems throughout her university career. She was self-harming, had attempted suicide and had got to the point where she found it difficult to find the motivation to get out of bed. She had sought counselling, but found it lacking. She simply couldn’t find a way out.”
So Sam was put on the six-month You Are Not Alone programme. This combines weekly two-hour group therapy sessions with holistic all-round support to boost self-confidence and encourage social interaction through workshops and activities held at the charity’s London community centre, prior to the pandemic.
It was the breakthrough Sam needed. “After six months she had already made massive strides in developing her selfconfidence, so she felt able to start working part-time as a teacher,” says Kelsey. “When lockdown temporarily put a stop to that, Sam was able to continue her involvement in the Body & Soul community through volunteering.
She flourished with this opportunity and became a lead volunteer in one of the programmes. With the end of lockdown in sight, she’s looking forward to applying for other jobs.”
Sam is one of many Body & Soul success stories since the charity was founded 24 years ago by Emma Colyer MBE to support families of those affected by HIV. It has since expanded its activities, partly thanks to £73,000 of National Lottery funding, and now supports people of all ages who have experienced childhood trauma.
The funding has also been vital in helping the charity deal with the difficulties of the past year. Covid-related stress has trebled the number of young people coming to Body & Soul with mental health problems and lockdown has meant switching the support programmes to online streaming. “That, especially, is where The National Lottery’s support has been a massive help,” says Body & Soul’s head of pathways and programmes Zoë Reynolds. “It enabled us to make the switch straightaway, without any break in the services that we offer.”
We moved our support online thanks to help from The National Lottery
ZOë REYNOLDS BODY & SOUL
ASDA has launched a new wholesale-style trial in Cardiff.
Shoppers at the Coryton store will now be able to pick bigger pack sizes of everyday favourites as part of its Deal Depot trial.
Asda said the trial comes at a time when people are being encouraged to shop responsibly and make fewer trips to the supermarket.
The Cardiff launch is an extension of the original Deal Depot warehouse-style concept, which launched in Bristol in December 2019 as a standalone store. The Bristol store sells more than 500 brands and is completely bagless, with customers using trolleys to take their items to their cars.
Mike Snell, head of wholesale at Asda, said: “We’re pleased to extend the Deal Depot concept into our Cardiff store as a new ‘in-aisle’ offer, giving customers the chance to pick up well-loved brands and everyday items in bigger packs.
“Customers in Cardiff will play an important part in shaping this trial and we want their feedback to understand what they would like to see stocked in store.”
Customers are encouraged to give feedback on the trial.
HUNDREDS of people have signed a petition opposing plans to build a 29-storey apartment block in the heart of Cardiff.
Last month, it was revealed that Galliford Try was in the early stages of applying for planning permission to build the 262-apartment tower block behind the facade of Guildford Crescent.
Guildford Crescent was once home to gig venue Gwdihw and restaurants Madeira and Thai House, but was mostly demolished in 2019 and now just the facade remains.
If given the go-ahead, the building would be one of the tallest in Cardiff.
However, more than 500 people have signed a petition calling for the plans to be scrapped.
The petition was started by Liberal Democrat councillor and Senedd candidate for Cardiff Central
Rodney Berman.
He said: “This is an amazing response and demonstrates there is huge strength of feeling amongst the wider Cardiff community.
“A previous community-led campaign which I and other Liberal Democrat councillors supported to save the venues at this site, including the former music venue Gwdihw, regrettably only led to only the facades of those properties being retained.
“However, that doesn’t mean people are now happy to just see anything built at this location.
“A 29-storey, 262-unit tower block would be significantly out of sympathy with the retained facades and the historical context of this site.
“In the wake of this petition, I hope that the owners of the Guildford Crescent site will now start listening to the community and think again.”