Together;Lancaster
About Together;Lancaster
Our History
Together;Lancaster was founded by 6 motivated and dedicated students at Lancaster University in the UK who noticed a gap in the mental healthcare system whereby friends and peers weren’t seeking out professional care for their mental health either due to not knowing where to start, being embarrassed or being intimidated to start seeing someone formally.
We felt that by being a link between students and medical professionals on campus we would be able to encourage other students to seek help or speak out in an informal, relaxed environment.
Being students ourselves it meant we could relate to the stress faced academically but we were also there as friends to have a study break. As we built relationships with Well-being officers within the University it also allowed us to suggest a line of specialist help for people specific to their individual concerns.
We also wanted to encourage people to join our movement to form a network of support for anybody seeking it which is most visible at our events or on our social media pages with the intention of making the movement as comfortable and friendly as possible.
Our Goal
In a generation of social media and technology, we at Together;Lancaster have set a mission to reconnect and support our community. We are a platform promoting kindness, openness and connectivity.
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Together;Lancaster has set three main goals. The first, to encourage people to be kind to each other, by promoting positivity and helpfulness. The second, a space for students to feel safe and comfortable by escaping every day stresses.
Through creating an environment where they can escape but also feel open and free to discuss their mental health in a nonprofessional environment and direct them in the right direction if they need to seek professional help.
Thirdly, we strive to eliminate the ‘mental health taboo’ whereby people feel embarrassed to be open when talking about their struggles with mental health conditions or day to day stress. We want to prevent isolation and motivate others to do the same by being strangers that people know are there in times of need as friends too.
Our Vision
Our vision is to increase positive face to face interaction between our community at University by creating a friendly network of people there to support each other, even if they are not officially part of the team at Together;Lancaster.
We feel that due to the increase in the use of technological devices we have lost a lot of human connection and intend to bring that back by initially creating a space for people to join us in a friendly and fun environment, chatting to students to let them know if they ever need a friendly face that our team are there to talk to them whenever they need, about whatever they need.
We also want our vision to be embraced by others by prompting activities such as ‘Act of kindness’ challenges where we carry out an act of kindness and ask them to pass it on for someone else.
We intend to create an environment without stigma towards mental health by encouraging discussion and sharing experiences.