It’s Mental Health Awareness Week from today, Monday 12th May, 2025, until next Sunday, the 18th.

Being autistic, I have a big belief in the importance of mental health. The high suicide rate among autistics testifies to how important mental health is amongst neurodivergent people.

Being Christian, I have a big belief in the importance of mental health. The Evangelical Alliance website says: “Rather than blaming someone for being sick or thinking they lack faith, Christians are encouraged to understand that mental health issues are complex.” But the tension between our faith and apprehensions may overshadow the intricate nuances of mental health. We might even hesitate to speak out, fearing condemnation for not fully entrusting our concerns to Christ.

What I wanted to do this month was give a list of what is available this week in my area of Kirklees in West Yorkshire:

Huddersfield University

Huddersfield University seems to have a lot on, but it’s hard to tell if this is just for the university staff and students or available to the whole community. In either case, well done, Huddersfield University.

Kirklees Council

The council website is difficult to navigate, but I did come across the Kirklees Wellness Service. It has two specialised exercise programs; Fitness for Health and Live well, but both require a referral from a Health Care professional, a physiotherapist, psychiatrist, psyclologisr, nurse or your GP. They can be emailed at referral.admin@kal.org.uk

Without a referral, there are wellness walks.
Greenhead Park, Huddersfield, on Wednesdays at 12:30 (for a 12:45 start) from the Cafe by the tennis courts, and…
Wilton Park, Batley, on Thursdays at 13:30 from the car park between the pond and the cafe.
(Other walks are not on the council website. Including one from the bottom gates of Greenhead Park on Thursdays at 11:00.)

Kirklees Wellness Service has other information too, on:

• Healthy Weight.
• My Wellbeing Course (4 week programme.)
• Stop Smoking.
• Mental Health / Active for Life. (Sadly the cycling sessions both at Leeds Road Sports Comples and Spenborough Running Track are marked as “Stopped until Further Notice.”)
• Carers Support Sessions

After two days writing this I found a whole list of support sites promoted by Kirklees Council. It appears to be a beta version, so not ready for promotion by the council yet, but even so knowing the correct words to search to find it could be a lot better. One thing they need is better SEO (Search Engine Optimisation.) There are a lot of useful links here.

So that’s it for this year. I hope Kirklees Council will be doing a lot more to promote Mental Heath Week, as well as making things easier to find, next year.