Funding to help mental health hub work for community

Wolverhampton Wrestling Club has been given £4,400 by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster for a new Wellbeing Hub at its base in the Guru Nanak Satsang Gurdwara in Wolverhampton.

The idea for the Wellbeing Hub came from wrestlers at the club, who were worried about the impact of stress and anxiety on the local community since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

The project aims to reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation in Wolverhampton’s underrepresented communities, who have been hit particularly hard during the pandemic and successive lockdowns.

Ranjit Singh, project lead at Wolverhampton Wrestling Club, said: “Being based out of a place of worship gives us access to the local community.

"It was where we saw first hand how detrimental lockdown has been to the mental health of people and communities in Wolverhampton.

"I hope this will be a space where people can come into the Gurdwara if they need a listening ear.

"I’m really proud of our volunteers and the funding from the PCC will help us to establish this properly and make sure that we can reach as many people as possible."

The Wellbeing Hub will use the money to train volunteers to host one-to-one and group sessions with participants from the local community, and hopes to provide a safe, dedicated, and judgement-free place for people to meet and talk.

The money will also pay for specialist stress management courses for users of the Hub, which will increase the confidence and self-esteem of participants by providing them with useful tools and coping strategies to manage stress.

The Wellbeing Hub will also put on a wide variety of multi-sports projects for people of all ages as a way to tackle poor mental and physical health.

The PCC’s cash boost will support the club to be able to offer this to people of all ages completely free of charge.

Sport on offer at the Hub includes archery, golf, and football.