Fostering People embark on '5 Ways to Wellbeing'

As we discovered when we talked about the 5 Ways to Wellbeing at the forums, the initiative has not entered the public consciousness in the same way that other public health messages have (such as ‘5 a day’, ‘Smoking Kills’, and recommendations around weekly alcohol consumption). This seems like a real missed opportunity to me because the last few years have really shown us just how important wellbeing is to us as individuals and a wider society

That doesn’t mean that I don’t think that there isn’t much we can do as a fostering service looking to support each other working with society’s most traumatised and vulnerable children because I believe the implications of enjoying or not enjoying wellbeing are massively exaggerated for us when compared to the majority of people.

With this in mind, we have decided, as a fostering community, to place a real emphasis on Wellbeing in 2023, with the 5 Ways to Wellbeing as our focus. I guess we all have our own strategies and approaches to taking care of ourselves and encouraging others to do the same for themselves. That was one of the things that made the exercise at the forums so interesting and sometimes entertaining.

So, starting in March with ‘Connect’, we are going to devote a couple of months to each of the 5 Steps to take us through to the end of the year. We will be setting up or pointing you towards activities, locally and nationally, to encourage and motivate all of us to think about and pay more attention to our overall sense of Wellbeing.

The older I get and the more I get to know and hopefully understand people a little better, the more I appreciate that different things work for different people. Frustrations and misunderstandings often arise when others fail to see our point of view or vice versa. So, what I really don’t want this to be about is me or us telling you what to do. That said, I sincerely hope you and your families get something out of it.

For what it’s worth, one of the things I do for myself is run. I started when I was recovering from a serious illness 12 years ago and wanted to get fit again, and have pretty much kept going with it since, give or take the occasional month out when I have been getting various body parts replaced. Since I took up running, one of the things I have taken part in consistently is parkrun https://www.parkrun.org.uk/.

As the website states, parkrun is a free, community event where you can walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate. parkrun is 5k and takes place every Saturday morning. junior parkrun is 2k, dedicated to 4-14 year olds and their families, every Sunday morning. parkrun is positive, welcoming and inclusive, there is no time limit and no one finishes last. Everyone is welcome to come along.

The reason I mention this is that, for me and the thousands of people who take part every weekend, parkrun is very much integral to my personal ‘wellbeing strategy’. Linking it specifically to the 5 Ways to Wellbeing, it enables me to: Connect with people I see most weeks and those I might have not seen in a while; Be Active (obviously); and Give (through volunteering). There are also less easy to explain ways in which I Take Notice and Keep Learning, but I won’t go into that here. Anyway, it might not be for you, but if you have thought about doing it before but felt a little unsure about it, give it a go.

I do appreciate that there are some situations we work with that are so complex and traumatising, that it can seem almost impossible to prevent them from becoming overwhelming. What I don’t want to do is create an impression that those of us who circumstances cause to hit ‘rock bottom’ are responsible for what is going on for them, but that doesn’t mean we should disregard the evidence and guidance that is out there in terms of promoting our Wellbeing and reducing the risks of us getting to that point.

I hope we are able to come up with at least a few ideas over the course of 2023 that resonate with you and encourage you and your family to get involved in some way or another. We will be sharing more over the next couple of weeks, but that’s all from me for now.