Clubhouse Gibraltar Wellness Route
Clubhouse Gibraltar recently hosted its first Wellness Route, as part of raising awareness for Mental Health in the community. Mental Health Awareness Week is held annually in May, and since the start of the pandemic Clubhouse Gibraltar adapted its usual annual events to a virtual approach. Thankfully this year Clubhouse Gibraltar has been able to host events out in the public again. Given that this year’s theme was “loneliness”, it was decided that we would focus on prevention, then the idea of the Wellness Route came about.
A statement from Clubhouse continued: “The Wellness Route, which was held on Saturday 14th May, started in Casemates Square, where members of the public were invited to register and take the route to their wellbeing. In the first station, Casemates other than registering we had an activity called “Connect”. This encouraged people to talk to others and connect. Interacting with others boosts feelings of well-being and decreases feelings of depression. Research has shown that one sure way of improving your mood is to work on building social connections. You may even lower your risk of dementia.
“Then a walk-up town to the Piazza, took you to station No.2 where we had the “Gratitude Tree”, where you were asked to write something down on a paper leaf that you were grateful for and then you could add your leaf to the tree. When it comes to your mental health, gratitude goes beyond just happiness. Studies have shown that being grateful can make you more optimistic, improve your mood, and even lower rates of stress and depression. Also, in Station No.2 you had a “Self-care voucher”, where you were asked to gift yourself a voucher for your own self-care – “do something today that your future self will thank you for.” Engaging in a self-care routine has been clinically proven to reduce or eliminate anxiety and depression, reduce stress, improve concentration, minimize frustration and anger, increase happiness, improve energy, and more.
“The next station was out of the busy centre of town, in the beautiful new Campion Park (Midtown) we had Station No.3 where you were mostly greeted by our very own Tinkerbell, which was loved by the little ones who took part on the route, and Tinkerbell asked you pick a “Random Act of Kindness”, this were many little kindness ideas in a basket and you were asked to commit to do a random act of kindness; helping others feels good. It creates a sense of belonging and reduces isolation. It helps keep things in perspective. It helps to make the world a happier place – one act of kindness can often lead to more! The more you do for others, the more you do for yourself. Also, at this station we had a “Mindfulness” activity run by a Clubhouse volunteer (Sean Rodriguez) - regularly practicing mindfulness meditation has been shown to improve mood, relieve stress, improve sleep, improve mental health, and reduce pain.
“Finally, the end of the route took you to the beautiful and serene Commonwealth Park where we looked on ways to cope with stress, a leading factor in mental ill-health. An activity practicing breathing techniques was ideal in this location, finalizing the route feeling well and relaxed. Handmade stress balls where gifted to everyone who completed the route, and a piece of fruit. Everyone also received a certificate for completing the route.
“A special thanks for everyone who participated in the route, to the team who worked very hard in making it possible, Clubhouse staff, members, and volunteers, and finally to our sponsors Hassans, Gibmaroc and Deloitte for sponsoring this event.”
