Dragon Café Southwark re-opens for 2014!

The latest creative endeavour by Mental Fight Club, the Dragon Café, has been warmly welcomed back this year with new funding from the Maudsley Charity.

Every Monday in Borough, Southwark, the crypt in St Giles the Martyr Church becomes a hive of activity – thanks to an innovative and inspiring programme of events that explore issues relating to mental health, recovery and well-being. It’s very exciting to see this creative hub back and as busy as ever, offering artistic and physical activities for all to drop in and experience for free.

Sometimes discussing our mental health can seem like a daunting task. We may feel disconnected from our peers or embarrassed to admit that we’re feeling overwhelmed. That’s why it’s so important that spaces such as the Dragon Café exist, in order to offer an impartial and comprehensive range of discussions and activities dedicated to promoting good mental well-being.

The Café gives people the chance to work through recovery while trying new experiences to see what works for them as an individual, but also invites a social atmosphere where the assumed or real stigma that often surrounds mental health is pushed aside by frank and open conversation.

Suffering in silence should never be an option: the Dragon Café embraces originality and inclusion.  Fixtures include art workshops, book swaps and, this month, a class in mindfulness training!

Mindfulness can provide assistance with feelings of anxiety or stress by teaching us to ground ourselves in the moment.

Physical activities include massage, dancing, Tai Chi and, from April, boxing classes. Massage in particular can help to re-establish the connection between mind and body.

There is even a selection of yummy vegetarian food on offer, from moussaka to soup – all at affordable prices!

You can check out the Café’s weekly programme of events here. In the meantime, here are our top three tips to promote good mental health and wellbeing:

1.    Talk to someone – whether it is a friend, family member or mental health professional, remember there is always someone there for you, and you are not on your own.

2.    Eat well – eating healthy and nutritious food is proven to have positive effects on our mental health. Engaging with our food and cooking at home is a task that enables us to focus, while cooking with others can be a social and enjoyable experience!

3.    Be active – this doesn’t necessarily mean physical exercise. Creative outlets like the ones provided by the Dragon Café can provide a new way to engage with your mental health and take control.

Congratulations to the Dragon Café on their re-opening! Find out more about the Dragon Café.

By Emma Jones

Food Therapy: Bake Yourself Happy

Baking, formerly the preserve of the traditional domestic housewife, is currently enjoying a revival. Polka-dotted cupcake cases, retro cakes and striped aprons are everywhere in the craze for cake-making, and the fad is showing no signs of slowing down yet. The popularity of programs like the Great British Bake Off is a testament to the kitchen-craze sweeping the nation. However, did you know there are also myriad health benefits associated with this sweet past time?

Heading to the kitchen to whip up some scones or muffins is one way in which you can take control of your own well-being, without simply waiting for disaster to strike first. Baking’s proven mood benefits mean that investing in essential equipment like a whisk, scales, rolling pin and mixing bowl should be top of your list of things to do. Let’s start with the actual physical satisfaction of eating something you’ve made yourself- it’s warm and delicious to munch straight from the oven, though be careful not burn yourself!

Also, humans generally really like eating sugary carbohydrate-based foods - which of course must be limited to occasional treats – because they release a rush of endorphins into the bloodstream. You don’t even need to eat the cakes to feel the benefits. Next time you feel a bit down, take a walk past the local bakery and just try not to feel instantly better when those delicious smells waft over you.

Physical activity is a proven stress-reliever – remember how people always tell you to go for a walk, or do some exercise when things are getting a bit much? The repetitive physical actions of baking, the concentration required for accurate measurement and strength needed to mix the batter properly all contribute to the same effect.

Cookies, cupcakes, roulade and brownies – there seems no end of the number of things you can whip up from the recipe books using flour and eggs as your staple ingredients. Creativity is well-known to contribute to overall well-being and baking offers this possibility in abundance – through careful adherence to the recipes combined with the possibilities of food colouring, icing and other decorations you can end up with some fantastic results. Butterflies, houses, cats, stars – anything!

One way to make sure you only eat baked goods in moderation is sharing your results with family and friends. They’ll be overjoyed when you tell them you’ve been getting busy with the mixing bowl, and you’ll feel good that you managed to make other people happy, providing an instant mood-booster.

Finally, having a tangible sense of achievement also provides a feeling of happiness. So much of our days are spent in front of computers, on the phone or texting that we often don’t see the fruits of our labours. Baking is different – for a while, anyway, before the “tangible results” have been devoured! Feeling proud of your achievements is another natural way to release those endorphins and help you feel connected to the world. When people compliment you on how tasty your baking is, you’ll find your warm glow of pride increases even more.

The Mini Cooking Club promotes educational nutrition and cooking classes to improve the overall health of society, and we run our own Baking Club for kids at Lansdowne Youth Centre in Stockwell. Email Enterprise Un-Ltd (who we work in partnership with to provide this free after-school club) to book your child’s place now.

So, next time you feel down, instead of giving in to stress or turning to unproductive activities, try baking a batch of delicious chocolate muffins and handing them out to friends, and see if you don’t feel better. You can take a look at this website for some healthy baking ideas to get you started, but once you’ve mastered the basics, the baking world is your oyster!

By Catherine Heath

Five Ways to Mental Heath: Creative Therapies Project

The Mini Cooking Club works in partnership with the Creative Therapies Project at the Copleston Centre in Peckham. They run a community mental health project for residents of Southwark, and those who live close to the area.

The ethos of the project is that every individual has mental health, and therefore at times we will all have concerns about it. Breaking down barriers between mental health and illness, the idea is to maintain mental well-being on a regular basis. A bit like taking a car for an MOT, you wouldn’t just wait until it broke down before getting it serviced.

In today’s society, we are bombarded with technology, advertising and demands on our time. It can be stressful keeping up with the super-fast pace of modern life. Overall well-being involves both the mind and body, but it can be tricky to find a balance or learn what’s right for you.

That’s why the Creative Therapies project takes a wide approach to mental health in line with the focus of Southwark Council. They promote the Five Ways to Well-being, which are intended to address all aspects of feeling good about life. The Five Ways are defined as:

1.    Connect
2.    Be Active
3.    Keep Learning
4.    Give to others
5.    Take Notice.

These are worthy goals and have been successfully identified as ways to help maintain the mental health of the community.

The Creative Therapies Project lives its own values through the following ways:

1.    The group sessions facilitate members connecting with others and meeting new people.
2.    The exercise and healthy eating classes keep members active and healthy.
3.    The sessions teach valuable new skills
4.    The volunteer programme provides a platform for members of the local community to give something back whilst learning new skills at the same time.
5.    Psychotherapeutic discussions (both group and individual) grant people the space in which to take notice of themselves and others.

The sessions and classes are held at the Copleston Centre and all are completely free to attend. CPT runs art therapy and music therapy, counselling sessions, complementary therapies, art café and sound café, as well as pilates and zumba. Book your place by emailing Marcela Vielman. The Mini Cooking Club runs cooking classes every Wednesday from10am-12pm.

The message is that you don’t need to wait until you have a problem to be pro-active about your mental health. Also, if you do have a problem, there are plenty of things you can do about it and lots of people who are willing to help.

Follow this link for more information about the Five Steps to Well-Being.


By Catherine Heath