What is normal now...
Elizabeth Feltoe | 30th April 2021
Hello Phase friendsSending Spring good wishes to everyone. As I’m writing this it’s sunny and I’m in the warmest room in my house even though I know in real life it’s only 10 degrees outside!This week’s blog is a ponder on the unlocking. How are you all feeling about it? I sway between feeling supremely excited that we can see people again, feeling
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Let's Talk Anxiety Support Groups
Hannah Dengate | 23rd April 2021
At Phase we are passionate about helping young people live life in all of its fullness, to reach their full potential and thrive. However, due to the pandemic, we have seen a rise in mental health issues and a high level of anxiety. A survey carried out by Young Minds in January 2021 found that: 67% of young people believed that the pandemic will h
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Having time off… The importance of rest!
Amanda Maylin | 11th April 2021
This is one those subjects that is much easier to talk about than to do – well it is for me!I am a keen runner and triathlete – though I can’t do triathlons at the moment due to lockdown. However, in the past I have run Edinburgh Marathon and done a half Ironman. For both of these I needed:complex training plansa diet regime to follow (enough carbs
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Avoiding burnout
Kieran Murphy | 2nd April 2021
Over stretched, beyond capacity, burnout – these may be terms that were not part of you vocabulary before COVID19 and the beginning of the pandemic, however they may well be part of your everyday speech or thought now.As we approach the year anniversary of the first lockdown many people are feeling completely different now as they were to those ear
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Why I love reading
Elizabeth Feltoe | 13th March 2021
It was World Book Day on the 3rd March and I have a secret to tell you. Probably one of the only good things about schools being closed is that I didn’t have to scratch around at 10pm on the 2nd March to make two dressing up outfits for my primary school aged children. I know, I’m such a party pooper.However, I love the idea of World Book Day – a f
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Looking ahead and moving forward...
Kieran Murphy | 5th March 2021
Our Director, Kieran, takes stock of what we have ahead of us as a nation (and town of Hitchin) and offers practical advice for this last stretch of lockdowns and restrictions...It was exciting news from PM Boris Johnson as he announced the roadmap for the way out of lockdown and hopefully the dawn of a new era of life alongside covid. Despite feel
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Continuing to Parent in Lockdown
Emily Croucher | 3rd February 2021
This article was featured this in Nub NewsAt Phase, we spend a lot of our time time helping young people to building resilience and good wellbeing, and particularly at the moment supporting them in all the ways that they have been affected by this pandemic. But we are also aware that for parents this has been an exhausting and incredibly demanding
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Renew
Kieran Murphy | 3rd February 2021
As we all come out of lockdown and begin to rebuild a sense of normality, routine and restore our lives, it is important to remember that each one of us will have been impacted by COVID-19 in many different ways. Our wellbeing, our mental, emotional and physical health will have been impacted.Renew is a series of short development sessions that you
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Resilience in a Pandemic
Hannah Dengate | 29th January 2021
"We have all been in the same storm but not the same boat." We are all experiencing this pandemic, but our experiences will all be very different. Some of us would have experienced grief, loss, whether that’s loss of a loved one, loss of a job or finance, the disappointment of not being able to spend Christmas with those we would have wanted too. A
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Working with the local community
Kieran Murphy | 25th January 2021
Since 2002 Phase has been a key part of the Hitchin community with our focus being building the wellbeing and resilience of children and young people – our vision is to see them thrive! We may be the ones doing the face-to-face work however there are many others across Hitchin who support Phase to keep making a difference. They range from individua
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Happy New Year Hitchin
Elizabeth Feltoe | 9th January 2021
Where do we start then, friends?! There’s so much to say but we’ll keep this brief.Phase knows that the start of 2021 has been difficult and upsetting, to put it mildly. You may be experiencing anxiety, stress and worry for many people in Hitchin (and of course further afield wherever you are). Schools are closed to most pupils, exams have been can
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Covid Christmas
Kieran Murphy | 20th December 2020
I had planned a very different blog post, however following Saturday's announcement of Hertfordshire and much of the east and south east of England moving into a new fourth tier and the huge implications this has on the Christmas many of us planned, I thought I would share some thoughts on how we can make the best of the situation we find ourselves
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Christmas giving
Kieran Murphy | 1st December 2020
As we begin December, we have had Black Friday, Cyber Monday, but now we get to the most exciting day - Giving Tuesday! As we approach Christmas and you and I prepare to give presents, I wanted to encourage you to think about other ways you could give this year that would mean we could make a difference to children and young people in Hitchin and b
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Quarantine Musings...
Guest Contributor | 27th November 2020
This week the Phase Vice-Chair John Maguire tells us about how he has been coping with lockdown, quarantine and all things WFH... My eldest son John lives in Malta and fourth time lucky we were able to visit him at the beginning of November and then had to quarantine for fourteen days on our return. Now the reflections below on this period include
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Mentoring
Hannah Dengate | 20th November 2020
Why and How Mentoring works...At Phase we are passionate about equipping children and young people so that they don't just survive but thrive as they journey through life. We love to help children and young people build good wellbeing and resilience. At Phase we have the opportunity to do this in a number of ways, but one particular way in which we
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