Viewing blogs by Helen Bainbridge
Mental Health Awareness Week 2019 - body image
Helen Bainbridge | 10th May 2019
It's Mental Health Awareness Week, and this year the focus is all around body image. It's something that affects us all - we might not all identify with having negative body image, but we all have a view on the way we look. And no matter how positively we view ourselves, we all have attributes we like more than others. The trouble is, our culture i
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Spring
Helen Bainbridge | 8th March 2019
I really enjoy spring. I like winter too, but there's something about seeing the first trees in blossom and the first daffodils come out that I find really encouraging. Spring means new beginnings, new life, bright colours, and driving home from work in the evenings whilst it's still light! With the prolonged light and better weather seems to come
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Time Trek
Helen Bainbridge | 22nd February 2019
Time Trekkers! We hope you've been having a restful half term. Ours has seen the latest Time Trek event. Along with more than 40 primary school aged children, as well as young leaders and volunteers from many of our Hitchin churches, we hopped into the Professor's time machine and went back in time to find out more about Jesus. This year, we're f
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Blue Monday
Helen Bainbridge | 18th January 2019
Is it just me, or does Christmas feel like a really long time ago? I don't know how we're half way through January already. Many would tell you that means Blue Monday is coming up. Or we've just had it. Or it's at the end of the month... Truth is, besides uncertainty over the date, Blue Monday has been widely debunked and it's a pretty unpopular c
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Expectations
Helen Bainbridge | 7th December 2018
How do you feel about expectations? To me, the word seems pretty negative. We talk about unrealistic expectations, which only end in disappointment. We talk about managing expectations, not letting others run away with an exaggerated impression of what we can achieve. And then there are those expectations others hold of us, which they forget to le
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Wellbeing Challenge - take a screen break!
Helen Bainbridge | 9th November 2018
How many times each day do you find yourself reaching for your phone, or opening social apps? Do you ever find yourself opening a social media app and then realising you'd only just closed it? If social media isn't your thing, how about email? YouTube? Netflix? Our world is so digital today. I know it's a cliche, but it can be so easy to spend so
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Zero Waste
Helen Bainbridge | 31st August 2018
So, how did your zero waste challenge go? Did you learn anything, surprise yourself? Or did you forget entirely that we'd ever challenged you to go zero waste? I kind of cheated on this one - I've been trying to live with less waste for a while now. The environment is important to me, I think we have a responsibility to be good stewards of God's c
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Creativity
Helen Bainbridge | 1st June 2018
When did you last do something really creative? What activities help you use your imagination? What does creativity mean to you? I think creativity can sometimes feel a bit exclusive - like you're either a creative person, or you're not. Maybe you can't identify with the artist or the potter getting their hands dirty and creating something from no
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It's a process, not an event - remembering Mary
Helen Bainbridge | 14th May 2018
Hitchin Girls School was filled with kindness on Wednesday as students remembered their friend, Mary, who sadly died two years ago. Through the sadness, her friends gathered to spread positivity and selflessness as they recalled the wonderful person she was. Around the school, interspersed with purple ribbons, were Post-It notes of encouragement.
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Wellbeing challenge - word of the day
Helen Bainbridge | 27th April 2018
Velitation. Frugivorous. Grok. Panchreston. Neatnik. Just a few of the new words the team have come across this month. Don't test us what they mean, though! It's been good fun finding out new (and often pretty obscure) words to add to our vocabulary, even if we've only remembered a couple. But what does that have to do with wellbeing? There's actu
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Exciting news!
Helen Bainbridge | 13th February 2018
In 2017 we ran the pilot of our Phase Ambassador programme, and this academic year we have been working on getting the full young leadership programme up and running. Our young leaders have helped us in all kinds of ways so far including exhibiting for Phase, leading at Time Trek, and helping to plan events. Along the way, they've been learning ne
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Wellbeing challenge - Veganuary
Helen Bainbridge | 26th January 2018
How's your Veganuary going? Kieran asked me that very question earlier today. Unfortunately, I was eating a tuna sandwich at the time! I wonder whether you took part? If you did, what were your reasons for taking part? Did you learn anything from it? I am aware that initiatives like Veganuary can have the potential to be a bit divisive. We all hav
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What's been happening - Ambassador programme
Helen Bainbridge | 14th December 2017
It's been an exciting term on the Phase Ambassador programme. For those who don't know, it's our young leadership programme and it's designed to train and value our fantastic young volunteers. Anyone who attends senior school in Hitchin can be an Ambassador but places are limited so it's worth getting in quickly if you are interested! From January
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Wellbeing challenge - check your habits.
Helen Bainbridge | 24th November 2017
Habits are amazing! Don't believe me? I take it that when you left home this morning, you remembered to put your shoes on without even thinking about it. (To be fair, I forgot to take my shoes to the gym today but I was at least wearing another pair!) I'm hoping you also showered, ate breakfast and brushed your teeth. And I'm prepared to bet that
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Have you got your priorities straight?
Helen Bainbridge | 19th October 2017
What things in life are truly important to you? Is it your family and friends, your faith, your favourite sports team? Now if you are really honest, does your biggest priority take up the biggest chunk of time in your week? Now, I don't subscribe to the school of thought that says that that we can entirely tally up those two things - just because
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