NW Launch of Mindful Nation UK report taking place in Salford Media City

Organisations from across the NW meet to discuss mindfulness

The first regional event to explore the implications, benefits and challenges of the Mindfulness All Party Parliamentary Group' (MAPPG) Mindful Nation UK is being held in Media City.

The event is being hosted by the University of Salford and three NW mindfulness training providers: Breathworks, Mind in Salford and Mindflow Training.

Academics, mindfulness users & training providers and representatives from the NHS, education sector and local government will all meet to discuss how mindfulness can improve well being and resilience across the public sector, the workplace and on individual lives.

The Mindful Nation UK report, which followed a 12-month parliamentary inquiry, stated that mindfulness provision in the NHS could save £15 for every £1 spent[i].

Jamie Bristow, Director, The Mindfulness Initiative, who helped the MAPPG conduct the enquiry on mindfulness, says: “The Mindful Nation UK report lays out promising evidence and makes substantive recommendations as to how mindfulness can improve well being and help meet societal objectives across multiple sectors and policy areas.

“The report is the first document of its kind anywhere in the world to take mindfulness training seriously as a matter of public policy and we are delighted to be holding our first regional event to discuss its implications across the North West.”

The event will look at how mindfulness training is currently being implemented and will examine key challenges and opportunities, such as the need to balance broadening access with maintaining the integrity of the field.

 Key note speakers are Ruth Passman, Deputy Director for Equality and Heath Inequalities, NHS England and Taravandana Lupson who co-leads the Mindfulness programmes for leadership with the King’s Fund. Others will present the impact that mindfulness has had in their work place and lives, including: Ken Harrison, Head of Communities, Knowsley Borough Council; Sylvia Daniels, Carer, Salford and Yogesh Patel, Teacher, Urmston Grammar School.

Singhashri Gazmuri, Programme Director, Breathworks, says: “Mindfulness is a widely used, but not often completely understood term, and so this event is a really valuable opportunity for organisations in the North West, whether public sector or private, to really find out about mindfulness and to understand the benefits of well-being and resilience it can bring to their teams, clients and service users.”

Mind in Salford has been running a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction programme since 2011, with very positive results. Markus Greenwood, Chief Executive of Mind in Salford, says: “Through our mindfulness programme we have helped hundreds of people dramatically reduce their stress levels, improve their sleeping patterns, reduce their anxiety and achieve longstanding improved mood.  We hope the event will help expand access to this simple psychological therapy to many more.”

The event will feature a 10 minute mindfulness practice session, as well as review the scientific evidence and discuss how mindfulness training can be implemented.

There are limited numbers of places available for the event, please contact james.belton@breathworks.co.uk or markus@mindinsalford.org.uk to register interest.

http://www.breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk/mindful-nation-uk-report

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