Today is World Mental Health Day, and one of our Head 4 Health participants, Bev, has kindly come forward to share her story.
Bev loves all things Wolves Foundation, and is also keen to encourage people to take part in the Molineux Sleepout next month, which supports people experiencing homelessness and vulnerability across the city.
Here is Bev’s story.
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I can still remember the day I first came to Head 4 Health. Monday 20th January 2025.
I was going through some personal issues and Foundation staff, who knew me from another session, had spotted it and suggested I try Head 4 Health for some additional mental health support.
Initially it was an eight week course, and it was absolutely fantastic.
Having suffered with anxiety for 30 years since my Dad passed away and I couldn’t cope with not having him, the added personal issues had pushed me towards the edge. I also lost my Mum two years ago, which also contributed to how I was feeling back in January.
Coming to Head 4 Health was a really emotional experience for me, and I just blurted everything out in terms of what I had been going through.
But by week four or five, I was starting to get my confidence back, and wasn’t bursting into tears all the time.
There are so many really important parts to the course, too many to mention, but the visit from the Samaritans is one I will always remember.
The stuff I learned from the Samaritans at the age of 64 – how to cope with issues and the support that is out there for those suffering from poor mental health – I was like: ‘how don’t I know all this already?’
At the end of the course, I was then told about the ‘Extra Time’ sessions, where people can come in and have a chat and keep in touch with each other, and I’ve been coming to those ever since.
It is amazing the difference it has made.
I used to be a really happy and bubbly person but all that had changed. Everything that had gone on had really got to me, and I had stopped doing all my hobbies. With all that was going on in my head, I was struggling even to eat and sleep. All the stuffing had been knocked out of me and I felt worthless.
I’ve got a partner, two daughters and a granddaughter, and they all noticed how bad it had become and how much my confidence had been shattered.
Even my grand-daughter who was only eight was wondering why I wasn’t the same when I was playing with her. And that made me feel awful.
Now I’m back to my old self, we’re back playing all the time. We’ve got a little routine where there’s an old school bell up the garden because my partner used to be in demolition and picked it up when he knocked down a building!
She’ll go up the garden and ring the bell and shout ‘school’s out for the night!’ Then we’ll go and look at our vegetables which we are growing. We’ve got a special relationship.
The Foundation staff are so good as well. A lot of them are quite a lot younger but they are always ready to listen and to chat. The other week I had a bit of an issue and ended up talking to one of them for 40 minutes and he made sure I didn’t go back into the session until I was completely ready. They are all like that, and, don’t give the game away, but I tell all of them that they are my favourite.
Now I not only go to Extra Time, but have returned to Wolves Elders, sometimes the ‘walk and talk’, and three of the men who have come through Head 4 Health have asked me to go to the Monday session as well. People now actually want to spend time with me which is amazing. I’m here all the time, and if I could do more for the place then I certainly would!
I’ve always been keen to support charities. In the past I have fundraised for MIND, I make cushions for dementia patients and next year I want to do the Alzheimer’s Walk.
I have donated to the Foundation, asking for the money to go to either Molineux Memories or Head 4 Health, and I have also been helping to promote the Molineux Sleepout. I always want to support where I can.
That’s because they do so much for the local community. Especially Head for Health.
Any form of mental health problem, whether it’s anxiety, depression or schizophrenia, is so damaging, and it can happen to anyone.
Poor mental health can really bring you down, and it does bring people down, it destroys them.
But for me, I’ve managed to come through it, with the help of the Foundation.
Don’t get me wrong, there are still difficult days, and I also have physical issues including a bulging disc in my back and I had to have major surgery on my stomach.
Even if part of me isn’t working properly, it doesn’t mean the rest of me isn’t!
I am back enjoying life, I have fantastic friends in Wolves Elders and Extra Time, and I am going to live every minute of every day for the rest of my life.
I’ve started getting a load of tattoos done, mainly for my Mum and Dad – both of whom have passed away – and my daughters and grand-daughter.
My next one is ‘Love Life’ which I want to have upside down on my arm so I can look down and read it.
When I see that in the morning, I can go out and say this is going to be a great day.
This year’s Molineux Sleepout, raising money for the Wolves Foundation and Good Shepherd, will continue to support people experiencing homelessness or vulnerability and challenges to their mental health. Click here to sign up or make a donation.
