Five ways to improve your mental wellbeing

Connect to others

Good relationships are important for your mental wellbeing. Connect with the people around you: your family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. Spend time developing these relationships.

You can find community groups in your area here

Be more active

Being active doesn’t just keep you physically fit – it can also improve your mental wellbeing. You can keep active in lots of different ways. Find an activity that you enjoy and make it a part of your life.

Find activities in your community here.

If you want help to become more active you can also  contact our friendly Living Well team for support and advice. Call 01274 438884 or send us an email

Keep learning

There are lots of different ways to bring learning into your life, you could try a new experience or learn a new skill. Learning can boost your self-confidence, self-esteem and help you to connect with others. ​​​​​​​ This video explains more.

The Living Well Academy offers free training and links to other learning opportunities, find out more here

My Wellbeing IAPT Bradford offers  free learning  to help you through life’s ups and downs.

The Skills Toolkit offer free digital courses to help you learn new skills to help you progress in work.

‘Reading Well for mental health’ lists books that can help with managing mental health conditions, or dealing with difficult feelings and experiences. You can borrow them from your local library as actual books, e-books or audiobooks. Find the Bradford libraries link here.

The Make Sure It Adds Up campaign aims to get more people from across the Bradford District to practice and promote ‘critical thinking’ when receiving and sharing uncertain information either online, in person, or over instant messaging apps.

Give  to others

Acts of giving and kindness can help to improve your mental wellbeing. Small things like a smile, a thank you or a kind word can really make a difference. Activities like volunteering at your local community centre can also help you to build new social networks.

More information on volunteering can be found here.

The Bradford for Everyone Ambassador Programme or Network  is an opportunity for anyone to get involved in volunteering in their areas, being part of the Stronger Partnership Board, or sit on panels for funding applications.

Citizen Coin aims to recognise, value and reward people for doing social good, such as for taking part in volunteering and or getting involved in civic and social activities.

Be mindful

It can be easy to rush through life without stopping to notice what is happening around you. Being more aware of the present moment, your thoughts, feelings and the world around you is sometimes referred to as ‘mindfulness’. Taking some time to reflect can help your mental wellbeing, positively changing the way you feel about life and how you approach new challenges.

More information about mindfulness can be found here.