Home > Wellbeing Colleges > Bristol Wellbeing College in South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire
Welcome to Bristol Wellbeing College
Free wellbeing workshops and courses for adults (18+) living in South Gloucestershire.
Learn skills and techniques to help you look after your mental health and wellbeing and connect with new people. Check out our list of available workshops and courses below to find out about our upcoming sessions, then go to our online booking form to sign up.
Workshops and courses
We have a colour-coded system so you can see which workshops and courses are most appropriate for your recovery journey. If you’re unsure, we recommend you start with green workshops.
Green Workshops
Lighter workshops offering an introduction into various ways to improve wellbeing. They are accessible to anyone, encouraging self-expression and self-care.
Blue workshops
More detailed workshops that focus on making positive changes to habits, behaviours and lifestyle. Where a series, we recommend learners attend all sessions.
Pink Courses
In-depth courses encouraging self-reflection, long-term planning and progression. Courses require commitment to attend all dates and a willingness to complete homework.
Upcoming workshops and courses
All workshops and courses below will be run at:
Cadbury Heath Hall
5 School Rd, Barrs Court, Warmley, Bristol BS30 8EN
(except where noted)
Times for all workshops:
10.30am - 12.30pm
Managing Pain (Four Week Course)
Co-produced with learners within the College, this 4 week course reflects on how pain impacts different areas of our lives, building awareness of ways it affects us and strategies we can use to cope. We will be practicing lots of different techniques to self-soothe when experiencing pain and distressing emotions, learning how to pace and plan for efficient energy use. We will also touch on medical trauma and steps we can take.
Bristol Wellbeing College courses are in-depth and encourage self-reflection, long-term planning and progression. You will need to be able to attend all dates and be willing to complete activities at home.
Thursdays 10, 17, 24 & 31 July
Arts and Crafts: Scenery Painting
Settle yourself into the calming scenes of nature, as we create soothing landscapes to take home. With easy to follow step-by-step instructions, we will flex our inner Monets as we paint our chosen image. Explore your relationship with nature and celebrate the natural world, as we create and connect together. Choose from a variety of landscapes and settle into 2 hours of "you time". All materials provided and no experience necessary.
Thursday 7 August
Self-Kindness Workshop
We are often very familiar with our critical voice, which damages our self-esteem and confidence. One way to combat this is to become aware of the compassionate and caring sides of ourselves. We explore practising self-kindness as a tool to help reduce unhelpful thoughts we have about ourselves, allowing our compassionate voice to be heard.
Thursday 14 August
Anxiety (Four Week Course)
Online via Zoom
Anxiety is present in us all, however sometimes our anxiety can feel out of control, and we may struggle to do day to day things. In this 4 week course we explore different aspects of anxiety, from how anxiety affects our body, to the impact our thoughts have on our feelings and actions. Each week we identify tools and strategies to help gain a sense of empowerment and practise different techniques to create a sense of calm. Throughout the course we aim to build our internal and external resources to manage our anxiety better.
Bristol Wellbeing College courses are in-depth and encourage self-reflection, long-term planning and progression. You will need to be able to attend all dates and be willing to complete activities at home.
Thursdays 21, 28 August, 4 & 11 September
Writing for Wellbeing
An easy-going workshop for those wanting to boost their creative flow and increase their confidence with the pen. The aim of this workshop is to discover how writing can help our wellbeing, help overcome any fears and barriers we may have to writing, take our imagination for a walk and connect with each other through the power of words and stories.
Thursday 18 September
Writing with Emotions Workshop
This workshop encourages us to step back from our emotions by visualising them. It explores the ways we can express primary and more complex secondary emotions through writing, simply through describing a scene. We then look at identifying our ‘third-level’ emotions, communicating a number of emotions without having to label them. This is a great way to explore writing as a tool for cultivating self-awareness as well as self-expression.
Thursday 25 September
News, resources and things to know
One of our learners, Ruth, has written a very helpful resource, writing for wellbeing. It contains simple writing exercises that may help you process your thoughts and feelings.
Our learners are also welcome to join our community Facebook group.
Some learners attended our creative writing course, Poem Brut. We are exhibiting their art, Poetry Without Words, online. You can also read blogs from our learners and tutors.
If you have any questions please get in touch:
bristol.wellbeing.college@second-step.co.uk or 0117 914 5498