Boulder About Mental Health
Some of you might have seen some posts popping up on our social media pages about a new partnership Indirock has started with South East & Central Essex Mind. We thought we’d give a bit more background to what this is about and how it came about.
Climbing can be an incredible tool for our mental health. It gets us moving, gives us something to focus on and connects us with other people. But climbing isn’t always enough.
Unfortunately, even within our climbing community, we see a lot of mental health struggles. Seeing a few people that are close to our hearts take their own lives in the past few years, we decided we had to do something. That’s why we’ve partnered with Mind to launch a two-strand approach to supporting our climbing community.
A series of FREE trainings
First and foremost, we wanted to empower our community to know what to do if someone is struggling. We like the analogy of “spotters” in bouldering – where you catch somebody or soften their landing when they fall. We wanted to create a community of “Mental Health Spotters” – people who feel confident in spotting the signs that someone is struggling, and knowing what to do if they are.
Our first three training dates will be as follows:
Wednesday 21st October – Spotting the Signs
We’ll look at how to recognise when someone might be struggling, what to do when something doesn’t feel right, and how to signpost people towards the right support. It’s not about becoming therapists – it’s about feeling more confident looking out for each other.
Monday 7th December – Addictive Behaviours
This session will explore addictive behaviours, including self-harm and eating disorders. We’ll look at how these issues can affect people in different ways, how to spot potential signs that someone may be struggling, and how to respond with empathy and without judgement. We’ll also explore how addictive behaviours can sometimes show up within the climbing industry, including around exercise, body image and training.
Wednesday 3rd February – Suicide Prevention
Talking about suicide can feel daunting, but having open and compassionate conversations can make a real difference. This session will help build confidence around recognising when someone may be struggling, asking direct questions about suicide, listening without judgement and knowing how to respond appropriately.
If any of these topics chime with you, you are welcome to book one or more of them. These training sessions are completely free and there’s no need to pay for climbing entry to access them. They’re open to climbers and non-climbers alike.
Monthly socials
Running alongside these training dates, we’re hosting monthly “Boulder About Mental Health” climbing socials. A group of us meets to climb, with Mind mental health workers joining in, and we end with tea and a chat in the cafe afterwards.
Running on the first Thursday of every month, we’ve already held three of these and participants have fed into our plans for the above training series. If you’d like to get involved, or just want to chat confidentially with a trained member of staff from Mind, please book in below.
Just pay for your climbing entry as usual, and the support from Mind is completely free!
All sessions are held at Indirock, on the first floor of the Victoria Shopping Centre in Southend-on-Sea. We hope to see you there!
