Mental health charity, Project Lily, today announced its campaign to train the Jewish community to respond to mental health issues – for free.

Jonathan Dove, Clinical Director of Project Lily explains; “We know that mental health challenges for the Jewish community have never been greater. It is now more urgent than ever to teach people how to care for our own and others’ wellbeing.”

Project Lily’s training has in the past just been offered to communal organisations’ professionals and volunteers. Now the charity says it wants to make their courses available to the wider Jewish public – at no cost.

Jonathan Dove continues: “People are beset by mental health stresses ranging from the effects of Covid to fears about the war in Ukraine resulting in a huge increase in the need for support. Our belief is that people must be equipped to recognise and respond appropriately to the mental health issues they encounter, and in doing so stop unaddressed problems from escalating.”

With the NHS under enormous pressure to deal with a huge backlog of patient needs, the waiting time to support those with mental health conditions can leave those in need waiting for months, by which time their situation may have deteriorated significantly.
Project Lily’s’ courses are delivered over Zoom and range from 90 minutes to 3 hours in length, with participants learning how to identify and respond to issues that they themselves, or people they encounter, may need help with. Topics covered include: What is mental health, Vulnerability and protective factors, Stress, Anxiety and Depression, and Self-care.

Course places can be booked at Project Lily’s website: www.projectlily.org.uk