Health and wellbeing in Cheshire West and Chester Libraries
Mental health awareness and support
Our libraries offer an extensive range of resources to help raise awareness about mental health whilst also providing access to information that will enable people to lead happier and healthier lives.
Every year as part of mental health awareness week we provide further access to help and support through a programme of activities and events. This is delivered in partnership with local organisations and health agencies.
Sources of information and advice
- Anyone can require urgent mental health support. Please call NHS 111 and select the mental health option to access the help you need.
- Call 116 123 to talk to Samaritans or email: jo@samaritans.org for a reply within 24 hours.
- Text "SHOUT" to 85258 to contact the Shout Crisis Text Line, or text "YM" if you're under 19.
- Live Well Cheshire West: provides local information, support and advice on a wide range of needs.
- Chapter Mental Health: telephone and video call for people living with a mental health diagnosis who need additional support to manage their wellbeing. Call 01244 344 409
- Platform for life: free mental health and emotional wellbeing support to low income families in Blacon and Lache, offering vital services to people in need.
- Every mind matters (NHS): simple and practical ways to ease anxiety, manage stress, lift your mood and sleep better. Improve your mental health with the NHS Mind Plan. The 5 question quiz provides a personalised action plan with tips from mental health experts.
- Mental Health and Wellbeing (NHS): If you are feeling stressed, anxious or depressed or want to feel happier, the NHS website offers support. They also provide mental wellbeing audio guides created by NHS professionals.
- Mental Health Foundation: a UK charity, whose mission is "to help people to thrive through understanding, protecting, and sustaining their mental health”. If your mental or emotional state quickly gets worse, or you're worried about someone you know, they can offer help and support.
- Mind: provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. Practical advice and tips for everyday living, with links and information to support mental wellbeing. Call 0300 123 3393 or text 86463
- Rethink Mental Illness: a charity that believes a better life is possible for millions of people affected by mental illness. They run services and support groups that change people's lives and challenge attitudes about mental illness. Call 0300 5000 927
- Silver Cloud: for people aged 16 or over who need help with mental health issues and the emotional challenges associated with long-term conditions. This is an online course to help manage stress, anxiety, and depression. The course is eight weeks long and is designed to be completed in your own time and at your own pace.
- Samaritans: a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. Whatever you're going through, a Samaritan will face it with you 24/7. Call 116123
- Switchboard (LGBT): providing help, understanding and options. No topic is off limits. All volunteers self-define as LGBT+. Call 0300 330 0630
- Childline: there to help anyone under 19 in the UK with any issue they’re going through. You can talk about anything, whether it’s something big or small, trained counsellors are there to support you. Call 0800 1111
- My Mind (NHS): dedicated NHS website for young people and children. Out of hours support and links to West Cheshire Services.
- The Mix: Free information and support for under 25s in the UK, via social media, mobiles and online. Advice given about sex, relationships, drugs, mental health, money and jobs.
- Youth Access: is the advice and counselling network, they believe that every young person has a right to access free, high quality confidential advice and counselling.
- Young Minds: are the UK's leading charity fighting for children and young people's mental health. With expert advice for parents via the Young Minds’ Parent Helpline.
- Age UK: support for older people including depression and anxiety, coping with bereavement and seasonal affective disorder. They offer The Silverline which provides a 24-hour helpline (365 days a year), offering information, signposting and advice as well as a befriending service to combat loneliness and support mental wellbeing. Call 0800 470 8090.
- Crossroads Together: for people who care (unpaid) for a family member or friend who, due to illness, a disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, cannot cope without support. Crossroads Together supports the wellbeing of these carers by offering help when they need it, either through advice, practical help or a break from caring responsibilities.
- Silver Rainbows: working with Body Positive Cheshire and North Wales, Silver Rainbows provide support and information for the older LGBTQ community. Contact info@silverrainbows.com or health@bpcnw.co.uk or call 01270 653150.
Mental Health Course Prospectus 2025/26
Cheshire West and Chester Council, working in partnership with NHS Cheshire and Wirral Partnership, has funded local services to make it easier for residents to access high-quality mental health and wellbeing support across the borough.
This prospectus brings together a range of courses offered by these services, as well as by other trusted organisations supporting mental health and wellbeing in our local communities.
Delivered by: Youth Fed, Rossmore Business Village, Inward Way, Ellesmere Port CH65 3EY
Duration: 6 weeks x 1.5 hours
Areas covered: Chester and Ellesmere Port
Phone: 0151 357 1971
ADHD and Me enables young adults (aged 18-25) to understand what ADHD is and how it impacts on our mental health. Those attending will improve executive functioning skills, learn strengths-based diversionary responses and where to find resources/support post-learning.
Sessions are split into 15-minute sections to maintain attention and interest – to be mixed between interactive learning sessions and fun group activities, including elements of assessment to monitor learning and understanding.
Prior to the start of courses, learners have the opportunity to discuss individual learning goals and needs with experienced and compassionate trainers.
Delivered by: Cheshire, Halton and Warrington Race & Equality Centre (CHAWREC), The Unity Centre, 17 Cuppin Street, Chester, CH1 2BN
Duration: 8 weeks x 2 hours
Phone: 01244 400730
CHAWREC is using its Chester-based Unity Centre to support people who are experiencing forced migration, helping them recognise the trauma they have experienced and how it may manifest itself.
This course uses Creative Arts and crafts to help people recognise their trauma-induced mental ill health. The aim is to provide a creative outlet to support wellbeing through recognising trauma and building resilience to cope with it.
It is delivered by a qualified therapist who is able to recognise when people need further support.
Delivered by: Her Place
Duration: 6 weeks
Areas covered: Northwich and Winsford
Phone: 01606 557666
Referrals: referrals@her-place.co.uk
This 6-week course programme will help participants understand the impact of experiencing domestic abuse. During the sessions, the individual’s own strengths, resources, coping skills and resilience will be reinforced, contributing to their own health and wellness on a long-term basis. Course will cover:
- What is abuse?
- Self-esteem, coping and the consequences of toxic stress
- The effects of abuse on children and on parenting skills
- Self-esteem and affirmations and the power of positive self-talk
- Anger, conflict and assertiveness
- Boundaries and trust
- Losses and gains
Delivered by: ND Directed
Duration: 8 week course
Area covered: whole of Cheshire
Phone: 07507 653066
Email: northwest@nddirected.org
This 8-week course offers a holistic approach to ADHD management for adults, helping individuals achieve personal goals and lead fulfilling lives. Through exploring the definition, history, and subtypes of ADHD, participants gain a deeper understanding of the condition while fostering a sense of community and belonging among others with similar experiences.
The programme focuses on building executive function skills, emotional regulation, and coping strategies. Practical tools such as mindfulness and meditation are introduced alongside techniques for creating positive routines around sleep, exercise, and self-care. By promoting resilience and self-management, the course empowers participants to navigate everyday challenges with confidence and clarity.
Delivered by: Cheshire, Halton and Warrington Race & Equality Centre (CHAWREC), The Unity Centre, 17 Cuppin Street, Chester, CH1 2BN
Duration: 8 weeks x 2 hours
Phone: 01244 400730
This course is aimed directly at those experiencing forced migration, helping them to recognise the trauma they have experienced, how it may manifest itself and giving them coping strategies to help them manage it.
Yaran is a specialist provider in this field and employs multilingual staff who have extensive experience of working with asylum seekers and refugees who are living with trauma.
Delivered by: Fallen Angels (Chester and Northwich), 39 Toll Bar Rd, Great Boughton, Chester, CH3 5QU
Duration: 8 weeks x 2 hours
Areas covered: Chester and Northwich
Phone: 07801478548
Email: hello@fallenangelsdt.org
Movement for Change offers a combination of goal setting, learning and putting recovery into action. Participants work towards their recovery and wellness goals with a focus on physical and active participation.
Learners reflect on any barriers they have, and develop a toolkit of basic techniques and exercises to support change and achieve physical wellness goals.
This includes breath work, meditation, self-care, and movement exercises. The programme includes:
- Goal setting and coaching with Fallen Angels engagement worker
- Recovery themes and learning
- Developing tools for everyday life/maintaining recovery
- Movement activity: “feel the fear and do it anyway” moving outside of the comfort zone
Delivered by: Chapter
Duration: 5 weeks
Areas covered: Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston
Phone: 01244 344409
RESET is a series of wellbeing workshops to support people experiencing mental ill health to get back on track.
Delivered in the local community or online, RESET provides people with a toolkit to manage their mental wellbeing in the long term.
As part of the process participants share their own experiences of managing their mental ill health and work together to build on their skills around managing anxiety, building resilience and making positive lifestyle choices
Delivered by: Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (RASAC)
Duration: 6 weeks x 3 hours
Areas covered: Chester, Ellesmere Port and Northwich
Phone: 01244 907710
Email: support@rpaecentre.org.uk
This modular course is for anyone who has been affected by sexual violence at any time in their life. Based on psychoeducation, discussion and practice within a group environment, the following topics will be addressed:
- Understanding trauma
- Emotional regulation and stability
- Boundaries and personal safety
- Relationships and community
- Assertiveness and confidence building
- Resilience and future planning
Delivered by: Radiate Arts
Duration: 7 weeks
Area covered: Chester
Phone: 01244 267806
Email: office@radiatearts.co.uk
This 7 week course offers a safe and structured environment where members of the LGBTQ+ community can explore creative self-expression through workshops incorporating elements of art therapy.
Participants will have the opportunity to build personal and group resilience, developing a toolkit to navigate modern-day stresses.
Delivered by: Radiate Arts
Duration: 12 weeks (6 x fortnightly sessions)
Area covered: Northwich
Phone: 01244 267806
Partnering with the Deaf and Sensory Network (DSN), this creative course will use visual and tactile methods to facilitate self-expression and emotional wellbeing, bridging communication gaps, using BSL as an integrated part of the course.
This inclusive approach will help foster a supportive community, enhancing emotional wellbeing and social bonds among deaf individuals. The creative sessions will give people the opportunity to express shared experiences in a safe and familiar space.
Delivered by: Chapter and Mid Cheshire MIND
Duration: 8 weeks
Area covered: Cheshire West
Phone: 01244 344409 or 01606 863305 (respectively)
Chapter and Mid-Cheshire MIND provide a free coaching service to adults who may be struggling with their mental health in Cheshire West. This fully funded service provides up to 8 weekly coaching sessions with a dedicated coach.
Both organisations have friendly and experienced wellbeing teams who will provide someone to listen and work with individuals, determine what support will help them recover and learn new skills to help them become more resilient and able to cope in the future.
Those seeking support will be matched with a wellbeing coach who will support them through 1:1 sessions, either face-to-face or by telephone/online – depending on the person’s choice. The coach will work with the individuals to explore goals through techniques to support with their mental health.
